Autumn is well and truly here in Perth. Seemingly overnight we’ve had crisp mornings and lots of rain. It’s been too rainy/dark to go for my runs, so to keep warm I’ve been going to Piloxing classes a few times a week. My cravings for comfort food go through the roof when it’s cold and if I were to act on them, they could wreck all my efforts of exercise.
So whenever I feel like a bowl of pasta, I make this Zucchini Spaghetti instead. There’s a gazillion zucchini spaghetti raw recipes around with tomato based sauces, but I prefer it with a fresh basil and mint pesto. If you don’t mind heating your food, this dish tastes pretty amazing lightly warmed through, too.
RAW VEGAN ZUCCHINI PESTO SPAGHETTI
1.5 ZUCCHINIS 3 CUPS FRESH BASIL 1 CLOVE OF GARLIC 1 TABLESPOON LEMON JUICE 3/4 CUP PINENUTS 1 TEASPOON SEA SALT
1/3 CUP EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
FRESH LEMON, LIME & MINT & EXTRA PINENUTS FOR GARNISH
Spiralise the zucchini with a Spiraliser (I recommend this one and this one). If you don’t have a spiraliser, make fettucine style zucchini instead by peeling long strips with a regular vegetable peeler. Place them in a colander and after five minutes gently squeeze the excess water from them and place aside in a bowl. Don’t skip this step, or your zucchini spaghetti will be watery and that will ruin your day. In a food processor, pulse the remaining ingredients until combined (leave a little texture in there) and stir through the zucchini. Garnish with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime, pinenuts and fresh mint leaves.
Here is my obligatory raw chocolate post, because Easter. Cacao butter works better than just using coconut oil for these recipes because it has a higher melting point and the texture is more like regular chocolate. I usually melt mine by chopping or shaving it into a bowl I place over saucepan of water on very, very low heat and stirring until it’s liquid.
There were plans in my head to make a raw version of Top Deck for this post, but then I found some old IKEA ice cube trays in the shape of bottles that seemed kind of perfect for little white chocolate milk bottles. Cute, yes? So the chocolates remained separate and more of each kind of chocolate was made than originally intended, which is just fine by me.
RAW, VEGAN WHITE CHOCOLATE
1 CUP MELTED CACAO BUTTER 1/2 CUP MACADAMIA NUTS (or CASHEW NUTS) 1 DESSERTSPOON COCONUT OIL 2 TEASPOONS VANILLA EXTRACT 1/2 CUP LIGHT AGAVE NECTAR
PINCH OF SEA SALT FLAKES
Blend everything in a high speed blender or food processor until very smooth. Pour into chocolate molds and store in the freezer to keep their setting.
RAW, VEGAN DARK CHOCOLATE
1/2 CUP MELTED CACAO BUTTER 1/2 CUP COCONUT OIL 2/3 CUP RAW CACAO POWDER (or DUTCH PROCESS COCOA) 4 TABLESPOONS MAPLE SYRUP
PINCH OF SEA SALT FLAKES
Blend everything in a high speed blender or food processor until very smooth. Pour into chocolate molds and store in the freezer to keep their setting.