GO NUTS: HOMEMADE ALMOND BUTTER

You guys have to make this make itself! Because that's what almond butter does. It makes itself. (Sorry, the photos are a bit rubbish, but I was too eager to make the almond butter so I could have it in my smoothie that evening.)

It's heavenly on toast but get creative... on ice cream, on waffles, as a dip mixed with cinnamon, honey and cocoa powder, as a savoury dip mixed with roasted garlic, lemon, salt, chili powder, cinnamon, and whatever other spices you want, orrrr just by the spoonful!

Just make it, and it'll inspire you to get creative with it.

Almond Butter

Makes: 2 cups

- 2 cups dry-roasted almonds (I use 50% Less Salt dry-roasted almonds from Trader Joe's)

- food processor

1. Put the almonds in the food processor.

2. Start the food processor.
3. Stop-and-go till you get almond butter, loosening the almond meal/paste from the sides as needed.
4. The almonds will go through a few stages - chopped, ground, pasty, smooth (almond butter).
5. If you're adding honey, spices or other things, add them when the almonds are pasty, or just before removing the almond butter from the food processor.
6. Enjoy!

Notes:
1. Raw almonds, like all raw nuts and seeds, are quite heavy on the digestive system and I don't recommend using them for almond butter or for eating.
2. Blanched or sprouted (soak almonds for 12 - 24 hours in water) almonds would work if you dry them completely first.
3. To dry: put the wet almonds on a towel to "surface-dry", transfer to a pan/baking sheet and let them air-dry in a single layer.

SPICY RAW SOUP: CAN'T HAVE ENOUGH OF THIS

Raw soup, smoothie, blended salad, whatever it is, it's delicious!! I drink at least one or two smoothies a day, usually for breakfast and dinner. I love creating seasonal flavour combinations, and this is one of my go-to, no-fail summer ones. Vary the ingredients and proportions to suit your needs, but be judicious with strong flavours such as salt, spice, garlic, or bitter greens. Try your own combos based on seasonal fruits and vegetables!

I won't endlessly extol the virtues of eating wholesome foods, but suffice to say that eating almost no commercially processed foods, less grains and mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and their derivatives such as oils, is the way to live. After you have this or any other smoothie, notice the rush of energy you feel. Food is also related to mental well-being. Eating fresh, seasonal, life-giving foods will make you a more pleasant, balanced person, able to handle the stresses of work and other things with a cooler, more solid demeanour. And your taste buds will be more sensitive to flavours so you'll enjoy all foods much more.

Try it for a week: have a large smoothie for breakfast, and a large one for dinner. At these meals, if you're still hungry after the smoothie you can have a handful of nuts or as many fruits/vegetables as you want. With a vegetable smoothie like the one below, have vegetables if you're still hungry. With a fruit-based green smoothie, have fruit. Don't mix fruit and vegetables. And, you should have no grains, no dairy, no meat 2-3 hours before or after the smoothie.

And definitely don't put things like almond milk, milk, yogurt, kefir, etc. in your smoothie. Just water or coconut water.

Raw Summer Soup/Smoothie

Servings: makes 1 large soup/smoothie, enough as breakfast/dinner/snack

- 2 medium zuchhini

- 1 cup cherry tomatoes

- 1 avocado

- 2-3 cups greens of choice - spinach, arugula, lettuce (any other than Iceberg), kale, chard

- 1 handful of fresh basil leaves

- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (the kind you put on pizza)

- 1 lemon, juiced

- 3/4 - 1 tsp. good quality salt

- 1 small clove garlic (optional)

1. Wash, cut and prep everything.

2. Add the heavy vegetables first - anything non-leafy.

3. Leafy things go at the top. In this case the avocado was an after-thought so it's on the top!

4. Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup of water and blend.

5. This will create a "creamy" base before you add more water. (Too much water from the very beginning will result in a non-smooth smoothie - a bit contradictory, really. And definitely not tasty.)

7. Add water, 3/4 cup at a time, until you have the consistency you want.

8. Pour into a glass if you're having it immediately. Otherwise pour into a container and refrigerate. 

PEACH, BASIL, AND RICOTTA CROSTINI

The juicy simplicity of summer!

Peach, Basil, and Ricotta Crostini
Servings: makes about 30 crostini

- 1 sourdough baguette, sliced

- 3-4 medium sized ripe peaches or nectarines, cut into 1/8 in. slices

- 15 oz. (425 g) ricotta cheese (I use whole milk ricotta)
- 1 bunch or 30-40 leaves, fresh basil

- 1-1/4 tsp. freshly ground coarse black pepper
- 1 tbsp. lemon rind

- 1 small lemon, juiced

- 3/4 - 1 tsp. salt

- 1 tbsp. brandy or cognac (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.

2. Toast the sliced bread for 7 - 10 minutes, or until just dry and crisp.

3. In a roomy bowl, mix well the ricotta, salt, pepper, lemon juice, lemon rind, and brandy/cognac if using.

4. Take the bread out of the oven and let ir cool for 1-2 minutes.

5. Assemble the crostini: on each slice, stack a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture, 1-2 leaves of basil, 1-2 peach slices.

6. Finish with freshly ground black pepper and a light sprinkle of salt if needed.

Notes:

1. You could do a few spring and summer fruit/vegetable-herb combinations, really... cherry-mint, strawberry-mint/basil, cucumber-dill/basil/cilantro, mango-mint/basil, thinly sliced kumquats-parsley, fresh figs-basil, chives-lemon-olives...

ROASTED TOMATILLO AND AVOCADO SALSA/SAUCE

Variety Mexican food is the spice of life.

It, among a few other cuisines, is comfort food to me. Or hangover food. Or hunger food, or party food, or anytime food. I especially love the thousands of different moles and salsas (sauces). Made with fruits, vegetables, chiles, tomatoes, tomatilloes, jitomates, guajes, seeds, nuts, legumes - the list of combinations is endless! You can pretty much blend anything in a Mexican kitchen and it's a mole or a salsa. Or sometimes a beverage.

Too much fun in the kitchen with all the colours and flavours, but here's an easy one to spice things up. Use this as a salsa, sauce for entomatadas (like enchiladas but in a tomato-based sauce rather than a chile-based sauce), as a salad dressing, over roasted vegetables, tamales, eggs, fish, or chicken, mixed into rice as a side dish, or however else you want! Because you won't be able to stop eating it!

Roasted Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa/Sauce

Servings: makes 3 cups

- 10 medium/12 small tomatillos, papery husk and stem removed, rinsed
- 2 medium/3 small shallots, unpeeled and separated (or 1 small white onion, halved)

- 4 medium/6-8 small cloves garlic, skin on
- 1 serrano pepper

- 1 ripe Reed avocado or 2 Hass avocados
- 1 lime, juiced (or more if you want it really tart)
- 1/2 bunch or more cilantro- 1 tsp sea salt (I use Himalayan salt for everything)

- 1 cast-iron or other heavy skillet - mine's small so I roasted the vegetables in 2 batches

- 1 bowl large enough to fit the roasted vegetables

- 1 lid for the bowl - doesn't have to be air-tight, a plate will do

- blender/food processor

1. In the skillet over medium heat, dry-roast (without using any oil), the tomatillos, garlic, serrano and shallots. If you're using the white onion, place each half cut-side down on the skillet.

2. Roast the vegetables on one side for 5-7 minutes, then turn and roast on the other side for 5-7 minutes, or until the vegetables have dark char spots.

3. Don't burn the vegetables! They should look like they do in the photo above.

4. If you burn the vegetables, go have a margarita and some salty chips and salsa somewhere nice. Start over with the salsa later.

5. Put the hot dry-roasted vegetables in the bowl and cover with the lid. Let it all sit for 10 minutes or longer, till cool enough to handle.

6. Peel the garlic and shallots/onion.

7. Cut the stem off the serrano pepper and de-seed if you want a mild salsa. I usually halve the pepper lengthwise, and de-seed one half, leave the seeds in the other half because I like a bit of smoky heat.

8. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop out the flesh.

9. Blend everything including the roasted vegetables, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, and salt.

10. Blend till the salsa is smooth, not chunky.

11. Adjust to taste... as more lime juice or salt.

12. If you want it spicier, blend in another roasted serrano or half of a raw serrano. Definitely not cayenne or any other dried powdered chile.

Notes:

1. Lemon instead of lime will do in a pinch but lime will give it the fresh tartness rather than the touch of sweetness that lemon imparts to foods.

2. It'll still be delicious so go ahead and use that lemon because you're out of limes.