The Kitchen of Belis

Probably everyone knows the magically delicious, green sauce called pesto. It is widely available at supermarkets (at least in the US) and used to dress up a wide variety of pasta and vegetable dishes. A very common recipe consists of fresh basil leaves, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, hard cheese, salt & pepper.

What is not commonly recognized is that a pesto recipe can be super versatile. This is actually not that so surprising. The name "pesto" comes from the latin word for "to pound" or "to crush". So, actually any sauce in that form can be considered pesto. This means you do not have to stick with one recipe and you can adjust the amounts of ingredients depending on your taste buds, your nutritional concerns and the food you will be mixing the sauce with. What an easy-going recipe! Recently I ran into a few recipes which included arugula, brocoli, tomato, and several without cheese.

Pesto is probably one of the easiest sauces to make. Since it is a sauce that is created by pounding, just dump the ingredients of your choice and the desired amount into your blender and ta-da!


Classic Pesto Recipe



Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves (you can use more if you want a stronger taste, or if you will use the sauce with meat)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese (you can take this out, if you are a vegan or planning to freeze the sauce)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced (adjustable according to your preference)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (again, adjustable according to your preference)

If you want to be a bit adventurous -

Add one cup of sun dried tomatoes and a little bit more olive oil.

I was admiring my spice collection today. I've got so many different types of spices, lined up in alphabetical order, waiting to be useful. When I say useful, it is from the perspective of not only adding flavor to our food, but also in aiding our metabolism. So, I wanted to put my spices to work in a curry dish.

Curry Spice Mix:

• 1 TSP ground cumin (stimulant - increases awareness and alertness, carminative - protects intestines, antimicrobial - kills microbes in the body!!)



• 1 TSP ground coriander (protects us from anxiety, acts as a digestive aid)
  


• 1/2 TSP turmeric (acts as an antibacterial agent and contains fluoride which is good for our teeth)



• 1/8 TSP cayenne (relieves pain)



• 1/8 TSP ground cinnamon (cures colds and digestive system problems)



• 1/8 TSP ground cloves (carminative)
  

So, home-made curry can only do you good! Here is what you need to do to make this into a delicious meal:

In a large skillet, heat coconut oil and add the chopped onions and minced garlic. Once the onions are pink and tender add tomatos, v-stock, curry mixture and salt. Bring to boil and then add your veggies. After veggies are about to be cooked, add raisins. Then, when the veggies are done add the lemon juice.

You do not have to use vegetables for this dish. You can also make this with a leg of lamb. Dress the lamb with the curry seasoning and start cooking the mixture. Then, add garlic and onions, the v-stock and raisins. This will give the dish a Moroccan style flavoring. It will be awesome.