Pesto Pasta Recipe

This was a promise I made late last year, to share the recipe of the Pesto Pasta that the mister and the boy love.

You'll need:
- 1 lb or 16 oz brown rice spaghetti (I used Tinkyada Spaghetti, or you can use any pasta according to your preference.)
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used Kraft.)
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed, stemmed, and packed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 of a lemon, juiced (you can substitute it with other citrus of equal amount, or for desperate measures, you can use vinegar)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- ground pepper
- Cherry tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes, optional

What to do:
1. Cook 1 pack of a 16 oz. or 1 lb. rice spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain pasta and reserve about 1/2 or a little more of a cup of the pasta water. While boiling water, and cooking the pasta, prepare your pesto sauce.

2. Add 1 peeled garlic, 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese to food processor. Mix and process until smooth. Add 2 cups of Basil leaves, and 1/4 cup olive oil.Pulse until mixture is thickened  and emulsified.

3. Finish mixture off with salt, pepper, and the lemon juice. Whisk for the last time.

4. Taste pesto, and adjust seasoning.

5. Add Pesto sauce to hot pasta. Toss until all pasta is covered with pesto. Add reserved pasta water if you want it to be saucer.

6. Add fresh cherry tomatoes or chopped sun-dried tomatoes to mixture or for garnish if you like.

7. Serve it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

If pine nuts is not readily available in your area, you can substitute it with other nuts like walnuts or pistachios.

This is so easy and quick to prepare. I assure you, the result will be like a magic trick. It is so quick to disappear from the pan too.

Enjoy. Let me know how yours turned out.

Vegetable Thai Red Curry

Every time I share a photo of my plant based meal to my little sister in Australia via Viber or Instagram direct message, she would always ask for recipes. She would also tell me that some of her friends would want to know too.

Actually, I adjust classic recipes into plant based and no-oil recipes, like this Thai red curry. This is my vegetable red curry.

You'll need:
2 to 3 tbs water (This is used instead of the oil for sauteing.)
1 tbs Thai red curry paste

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, pressed and minced

ginger (about a thumb size), peeled and cut into strips
1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz)
2 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste (about half of a teaspoon)

1 carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal about 1/4" thickness

Butternut squash, cut into bite sizes (about 2 to 3 cups) 

broccoli (1 large head, cut into individual florets)

red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch strips

1 tbs light soy sauce (I used Organic Tamari Gluten Free soy sauce)

2 tsp vinegar


What to do:
1) Add about 1 tbs water or a little more to pan on medium heat. Add red curry in pan. Add onion. Stir often. Add a little more water if pan dried out. Add garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2) Add 3/4 of a can of coconut milk. Stir. Season with salt and add 2 tsp. brown sugar. Stir.

3) Add carrots. Simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add Butternut squash, and simmer for another 3 minutes or until fork tender.

4) Add broccoli and bell pepper. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.

5) Turn off heat. Then add soy sauce, vinegar, and remaining 1/4 of coconut milk from the can to pot, then stir. Adjust seasoning if needed---a little more salt.

6) Served with hot piping steamed rice.



That plate (on above photo) isn't mine. It's the mister's. He plates his food at dinner time like he's the chef. The black spots on the white rice are Harmony blend quinoa.

Let me know if you've tried this recipe.

To my little sister, stop "harassing" me for all my plant based recipes. Hehehe. I'll share more next time. I promise.

Here's to all herbivores!