Tonight’s meal came together so quickly and was so delicious that I had to blog it immediately!!
We had Dandelion Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms.
First, you need to prepare your shrooms. Rinse them, pat them dry and remove the stem. Reserve about one fourth of the best looking stems. Put the caps in a big bowl and drizzle some good quality olive oil and a small amount of tamari or Nama Shoyu on them. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the rest.
Next, you want to make a vegan pesto. You can use any recipe that you like, but if you don’t have one then I’ll tell you what I did.
1 cup sprouted hazelnuts 1/2 cup nutritional yeast 1 tsp good sea salt
2 cloves garlic
Pulse in the food processor until nuts are in crumbs. Then add in
1/2 bunch dandelion leaves (about 1 cup)
1 bunch basil ( 2 cups)
Process again, and add in while the machine is running a few good glugs of the best olive oil you can afford! It is worth it for a good pesto!! Also add in the juice of half a lemon or a bit of apple cider vinegar.
This is your basic pesto. To this, add in the reserved mushroom stems (peduncles!) and about half a cup of raw crackers. I used my own brand onion crackers, but you can use anything!! Process again until smooth and thick. Now fill each mushroom cap with about a tablespoon of the pesto mixture. You can either eat them as is, dehydrate them at 120 for 4 to 6 hours or you can even bake them at 350 for 15 minutes. Either way, they are delicious and sure to please even the most discerning palates. Serve with a salad and you have a perfect meal. If you made it this far, you deserve a picture!
Our salad had romaine, cherry tomatoes, black olives, pea shoots and a simple parsley and apple dressing. Yum! Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you try it.
For some reason, I haven’t been able to find any jicama locally. It isn’t a common sight in Spain so it has been a really long time since I have been able to enjoy it. This past weekend, I saw some at the supermarket in Lafayette and just had to buy one. I didn’t really know what to do with it but yesterday I was so hungry and wanted something filling but light and it had to be raw. I also remembered all the dandelion flowers I have been pickling this spring and wanted to use some of those.
I just sort of threw this together but it would be a wonderful substitute for guacamole for any kind of Mexican meal. Lower in fat, higher in fiber, and certainly cheaper! A win-win situation!
Jicama Avocado Dandelion Salad
1 small or half large jicama 1 avocado 2 tbsp pickled dandelion flowers 1 tsp aji amarillo powder or other mild chili powder
Pinch kalahari salt or sea salt
Finely dice or shred jicama and place into a bowl. Then add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly until avocado is mashed into everything. Serve immediately.
Dandelion vinegar, a photo by DivineMissEm on Flickr.
Gracias Pachamana por la abundancia de primavera!
I love making herbal vinegars and the dandelion flowers are PERFECT right now.
It is such a lovely Spring food/medicinal as it gently and lovingly cleanses the liver as well as simply tasting delicious.
Another great thing about making dandelion vinegar is that when the vinegar is gone, you can eat the pickled flowers!