Summer Vegan Pesto

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite summer recipes—a fresh, vibrant healthy pesto made with fresh herbs that I snip straight from the containers on my deck. There's something very satisfying about stepping outside, gathering a handful of fresh herbs, and turning them into a flavorful sauce in just a few minutes.

Grated Radish and Apple Salad (Easy & Refreshing)

It’s amazing how endlessly creative salad making can be. This grated radish and grated apple salad became a new favorite of mine after I bought a bunch of red radishes and quickly realized I had no plan or idea what to do with them. 

Thanksgiving Grated Carrot Salad With Cashews and Cranberries

This irresistible Thanksgiving grated carrot salad is laced with cashews, walnuts, and dried cranberries and could be a perfect salad for your Thanksgiving table this year. 

Easy Vegan Parmesan "Cheese"

I'm excited about this easy 4 ingredient plant-based vegan Parmesan "cheese".  It's delicious and has the look and texture of the real thing. 

Great for anyone who is vegan, dairy-free, kosher or if you are looking to cut down on sources of unwanted animal fat.

Peach Caprese Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing- Vegan

Seasonal fresh farm produce such sweet peaches, red juicy tomatoes, and aromatic basil are the perfect fixings for this beautiful summer peach caprese salad with a delicious creamy plant-based dressing.

Cashew Basil Cream

I am excited about this simple cashew creamy sauce that not only can be made using a variety of ingredients, it also can be used on a variety of different dishes! I'm sharing my favorite way to prepare it which is the basic cashew basil cream. 

Raw Kale and Blueberry Salad

This raw kale and blueberry salad tasted absolutely delicious. 

The tartness of the kale combined with the sweetness of the berries and the nuttiness of the sesame seeds was really exceptional. 

I've seen recipes that I've ignored in the past because I always thought, 

"I'll never eat that raw kale. It's not for me."

I've always only used kale for juicing in the past. 

However, when my CSA gave me a beautiful large bunch of organic kale, I knew I had to come up with a recipe for it. It was just too much for juicing.

 So, I just chopped up the kale leaves very fine and let my creative juices start working.

What did I add to this fresh raw salad? Juicy blueberries and sesame seeds. The salad looked so pretty, and then I tasted it and was immediately thrilled.
In addition, it's amazingly healthy because blueberries and kale are on the top ten list for powerful antioxidants that may help prevent cancer and other diseases.

We ate it with an orange cashew dressing

The first time I made this salad,  it was Friday night and I had invited family and friends over for dinner. My son and daughter-in-law have recently started following Dr. Furman's Eat for Health book to lose weight and eat a healthier diet. My daughter in law, Wendy, says that she has been losing weight easily without any hunger! She says the book explains why the standard American diet (SAD diet) is typically a killer and contributes to the rise in high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc.  In addition, this way of eating is supposed to stop food addictions and cravings!!

Following the diet, my kids are primarily eating lots of raw and vegan food ( this week anyway ). They are still eating fish, chicken, and eggs. Wendy says the book is very educational for how to prevent disease and gives lots of tasty recipes. ( Dr. Furman has a newer book called Reversing Diabetes. It might be worth checking out.)

Anyway, Wendy brought an orange cashew dressing that she adapted from Dr. Furhman's book. Honestly, it was out of this world. Of course, we used it on the kale salad, and it really enhanced it even more. It was perfect (recipe follows)

                          
Ingredients for the salad:
8-10 individual stems of organic kale, stems remove and the leaves
chopped fine or shredded.
1 - 1 and a half  cups of organic blueberries
1-2  tablespoons of raw sesame seeds (or toast them if you prefer)
optional: add raw sunflower seeds(I didn't)

Directions: 
Wash kale well, remove stems, and chop or shred fine.
Place in a large salad bowl. Add the blueberries and the sesame seeds. Toss well.
Toss with a flavored vinegar or make the following orange cashew dressing.

Ingredients for orange Cashew  sauce (we doubled it)
2  seedless oranges, peeled
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least half-hour or more
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar  (or white vinegar)

Directions:
Combine ingredients in a blender
Use as a dressing for salads


What else did we eat with the salad ? 

Homemade lentil  vegetable soup
Tomato, and Raw corn salad
Waldorf type Broccoli Slaw Salad
Quinoa Burgers topped with guacamole

OK, I admit that it was a feast, not a meal. If I were cooking for just my husband and me, the meal would have been much lighter. We probably would have just had the soup and salad or the salad and burgers. But I'm never sure what my company will like in vegan food, so thus the variety and too heavy of a meal.

 To maintain good health and possible protection from degenerative diseases, it's recommended to eat a rainbow of colors every day with nine fruits and vegetables!

There are three rich colors in this salad alone! Each color of the rainbow offers specific antioxidant protection against disease (not to mention a variety of healthy nutrients). Even if you have never tried kale before, or if you only use it for juicing.. try this salad!

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Easy Blender Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie ( vegan)

It's fall, which means it's pumpkin pie season. I'm sharing this easy blender pumpkin recipe that is silky, delicious, and made in the blender!

Arugula and Cashew Salad

I love the flavors of this healthy summer salad. It makes a colorful presentation and has a unique taste. If you are trying to vary the greens in your diet, arugula is a good choice.

When my mother- in- law offered me a container of baby arugula, I couldn't refuse. It is one of our favorite greens, and I knew I would put it to good use with some of the cashews I had.

Arugula is a pungent green that looks like little pieces of wild spring lettuce. Of all the salad greens, it is one of the most nutritious. 

Being a cruciferous vegetable, it provides some of the same protective health benefits as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbages. 

I decided to make a salad with tomatoes, red cabbage, cashews, and raisins!

Arugula has a somewhat light peppery flavor and gives a salad a real kick. The raw cashews give the salad some protein and good fat, while the raisins sweeten up the bitterness of the arugula. The red cabbage adds crunch and additional antioxidants making this quite a nutrient-rich side.!

Salad Ingredients
2 cups arugula 
2 cups of chopped organic romaine lettuce
1 cup of chopped purple cabbage
2  vine-ripened summer tomatoes, quartered
1 chopped green tomatillo, (which has a tangy flavor)
1/2 a chopped sweet red pepper,
1 cup sliced baby Persian cucumbers
1/4 cup each of raw cashews, chopped raw walnuts (optional), and plump dark organic raisins.

Directions: 
Mix all ingredients together and toss well.

Delicious oil-free cashew dressing (link)

Easy to make mint and lemon dressing 

I dressed the salad with my sister-in-law Joyci's original dressing recipe made with the recipe:  lemon, mint, parsley and red onion dressing
The salad was stellar and tasted as good as it looked.

With some rice crackers and hummus, my arugula salad served as lunch for two hearty salad eaters.

You could be as creative as you like making this salad and use any vegetables that are seasonal. Personally, I love to include some purple cabbage in all my salads. It not only adds some incredible phytonutrients to the mixture, but it also adds some incredible color contrast. I love the purples, greens, and reds.
It's appealing, nutritious, gluten-free, and vegan.




Enjoy with Quick and Easy Hummus Bruschetta Appetisers


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