CILANTRO, BRAZIL NUT, AND SEED PESTO

Cilantro is known as a heavy metal chelator and can purportedly help remove lead, mercury, and other toxins from the body. However, I'm not a medical practitioner of any kind so I recommend enjoying this pesto for its delicious flavour and gorgeous colour!

For years I've been making this pesto from this website, and I barely make any changes to the recipe other than adding mint and sometimes using olive oil instead of flaxseed oil.

Cilantro, Brazil Nut, and Seed Pesto

makes: about 2 cups

- 1/3 cup Brazil nuts (selenium)

- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine)

- 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium)

- 4 cloves garlic, peeled

- 2 cups packed fresh cilantro (vitamin A)

- 1/2 cup fresh mint

- 2/3 cup flaxseed oil

- 2 lemons, juiced

- 2 tsp dulse flakes

- 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste

- 1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper (optional)

1. Put the nuts and seeds, garlic, lemon juice, dulse, flaxseed oil, mint, cilantro, salt, and pepper, if using, (in that order) in a blender or food processor and process to a desired consistency.
2. Taste and add more salt if needed. Store in the fridge in dark glass jars if possible. It freezes very well, so make more when cilantro is in season and freeze it.
3. Enjoy this as you would any pesto.

GLUTEN-FREE: ROTI (FLATBREAD) WITH CARROTS, CORIANDER, AND MINT

These gluten-free rotis (flatbreads) are adapted from the late culinary mastermind Tarla Dalal.

The gluten-free dough can be a bit tricky to work with, especially if you add too much water. So start slowly, and once most of the dough is clumped together, add water 1-2 tbsp. at a time to finish binding it into a smooth dough. Since there isn't any gluten to work with, you don't need to knead the dough a lot to make it supple. Just knead it enough to get a smooth uniform dough and you're golden.

Gluten-free: Roti (Flatbread) with Carrots, Coriander, and Mint

makes: 6 rotis (flatbreads)

For the dough:

- 1/4 cup brown rice flour (or white rice flour if you don't have brown)
- 1/4 cup quinoa flour
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 1/4 cup coriander, finely chopped (leaves and tender stems)
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped mint leaves (4-5 sprigs of mint)
- 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. oil (I use coconut oil but use any oil you want)
- 1/2 green chile, minced (optional)
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- 3/4 cup warm water

For rolling and cooking:

- 1/2 cup quinoa or rice flour, for rolling
- 1/8 cup oil, for cooking (I use safflower/grape seed oil. I would not recommend olive oil!) 

1. For the dough: Combine all the ingredients for the dough except water in a large bowl. Add water 1/4 cup at a time and knead into a soft (but not sticky) dough. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
2. Rolling and cooking: Heat a skillet (or griddle) on medium-high heat. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions.
3. Roll out one portion into a 5 - 6 in. diameter circle. While rolling, use enough quinoa or rice flour to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling surface and pin.
4. Turn the heat to medium and put the roti on the skillet. When it starts to bubble slightly or the dough changes colour, flip it over and brush a little (about 1/2 tsp.) oil on the surface. Let it cook for 30 - 40 seconds and flip it over again. Brush another 1/2 tsp. or so oil on the surface and finish cooking till it turns golden brown in colour on both sides. A couple of black spots are ok, too many black spots means the heat is too high, so turn it down.
5. Repeat with the rest of the dough
6. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container and reheat when needed.

HERBED HONEY LIME SALAD DRESSING, GRILLED CORN CHOPPED SALAD

This is easily the best salad dressing I have ever made! And I've always made salad dressing myself, I never buy it. This dressing truly dresses up a salad, with clean ingredients and bright flavours! Best of all, it's quite a forgiving recipe so you can vary the quantities of ingredients however you prefer.

Although, I wouldn't do anything insane like adding parsley instead of mint or - heaven forbid - herbs like rosemary, sage, tarragon and all that. That would be nothing short of a travesty of this dressing!

If you're making the salad too: roasted corn is important in the salad. It rounds everything out with its smokiness. In corn season I buy a bunch of corn, roast it on my gas burner stove top, shave off the kernels, and freeze for use later. That is of course better than frozen store-bought roasted corn, but really, Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn is quite up to par. So definitely use that if you want or have to.

Herbed Honey-Lime Salad Dressing

Makes: approximately 12 oz.

- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/8 cup fresh juice from navel, tangerine, or mandarin oranges

- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, roughly torn and including tender stems
- 1 cup fresh mint, roughly torn and including tender stems
- 1/2 jalapeño pepper

- 1 garlic clove, peeled

- 1 tsp good quality salt

- 1/4 cup or more water as needed to blend to a smooth, easily pourable, liquid consistency

1. Put everything in a blender or smoothie mixer and blend to a smooth consistency.

2. While still in the blender, taste the dressing and adjust flavours to your taste. Blend again to make sure it's all smooth.

3. Enjoy over salad leaves, roasted vegetables, raw vegetables, rice and raw vegetable salad, or a mixed chopped salad like below...

Grilled Corn Chopped Salad

Makes: a lot, or approximately 10 cups

1. Mix in a bowl small-medium sized dice of:

- 1 cup yellow or red onion

- 1 cup jicama

- 3 Persian cucumbers

- 1 cup capsicum of any colour

- 1 cup carrots

2. Add

- 1 cup celery, sliced not diced

- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

- 1 cup kernels from grilled corn (or use Trader Joe's frozen grilled corn)

3. Toss with three quarters of the salad dressing, adding more if required.

4. Enjoy on its own or as a salsa with tortilla chips! Or stuffed in a pita, as a soft taco with corn tortillas, with a bit of rice on the side, or filled in endive spears.

FUNGUS AMONG US: SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

Gorgeous mushrooms that make a terrific topping for crostini, or a side dish. Shown here are yellow and brown tree oysters, maitake (hen of the woods), shiitake, and other assorted mushrooms.

Sauteed Mushrooms

makes: 3-4 servings (as a side)

- 1 lb mixed mushrooms, wiped clean of any soil - do not wash mushrooms unless you like soggy 'shrooms!

- 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped finely

- 2-3 tbsp. olive oil

- 5 tbsp. fresh parsley or cilantro, coarsely chopped

- 1/3 cup small flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

- Salt, to taste

- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I used toasted peppercorns)

Optional

- A splash of sherry, white wine, or vermouth while sauteeing

  - or -

- A squeeze of lemon at the end

1. Heat olive oil - make sure it doesn't smoke.

2. Put the chopped garlic and sautee till the garlic starts turning light brown. The idea is to let the oil absorb the garlic flavour, rather than frying the garlic to a crisp.

3. Add the mushrooms to the pan and sautee till the mushrooms start to wilt.

4. Add the sherry, white wine, or vermouth if using.

5. Continue to sautee the mushrooms until fully cooked.

6. Add the chopped parsley before serving warm or at room temperature.