Pesto di Pistacchi (Pistachio Pesto)

Make this once, and I guarantee it will become a staple in your cooking repertoire, especially on a night when you need a fast meal, of when you’re entertaining and want to delight your guests without slaving over a hot stove all day.

While it originally comes from Sicily, I discovered this delightful pesto on the small island of Ischia, just off the coast of Naples. I enjoyed a plate of spaghetti with this sauce on it just before boarding my ferry back to the mainland, and I haven’t stopped dreaming of it since.

I really encourage you to play with this recipe and make it your own - you can add more or less of any ingredient to get just the right flavor and texture that most excites your tastebuds.

A couple tips:

• This recipe makes a batch that is perfect for coating 1 pound of pasta. It’s equally great tossed on cooked vegetables. You can refrigerate any extra pesto and use within 3–5 days.

• When buying pistachios, look for a raw, unsalted and shelled variety that ideally has very minimal skins remaining on the nuts. You can go through a process of blanching and removing the skins, but the pistachios will become mushier and the texture won’t be quite the same.

• It’s entirely possible to make this using a large mortar and pestle instead of a food processor (that’s what the Romans did!) but be prepared to dedicate some time and muscle to the effort.

• Choose a good (i.e., flavorful) olive oil for best results.

Prep time: <5 minutes | Makes 1 batch (for 1 lb. of pasta)

Ingredients: 

1¼ cups raw, unsalted and shelled pistachios (see note above)
1 clove of garlic
1 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (vegan option) or 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (traditional option)
1/2 teaspoon salt (use slightly less if using cheese)
Additional shelled pistachios and ground black pepper for serving (optional)

Preparation:

Place pistachios in a food processor bowl fitted with an S-blade. Pulse the machine until a coarse, uniform meal is achieved. Do not over-process the nuts or they will become pasty and you want this to have some texture. Transfer 3/4 of your ground pistachios to a medium mixing bowl.

Return the food processor bowl to its base and add the garlic clove. Process until the garlic is well-integrated (it’s fine if this portion gets a little pasty). Add the pistachio-garlic mixture to the bowl, along with all the other ingredients. Use a flexible spatula to stir everything really well. Taste and adjust any flavors as you wish. You can also add more oil for a “looser” pesto.

Toss finished pesto on pasta, cooked vegetables or anything else you wish. Garnish with extra pistachios and/or freshly ground black pepper if desired.

Tangy Jackfruit with Cardamom + Lime

This quick, Indian-inspired main dish is a wonderful weeknight option. Serve it with basmati rice and a salad, and voila – dinner is all set!

One note about lime leaves: you’ve probably seen these called Kaffir lime leaves in other recipes, on menus at Thai restaurants, etc. but it turns out Kaffir is a derogatory racial slur (said to have originated in South Africa and spread to parts of Asia from there) so the term Makrut is now more globally accepted. Makrut is the Thai name given to these flavorful leaves. You can generally find them in Thai or other Asian markets, or sometimes at local farmers market (in L.A., Coleman Family Farms carries them at certain times of year).

If you cannot locate these leaves, you can omit them, although I highly recommend seeking them out as their flavor really takes this dish to the next level. Since I use Makrut lime leaves infrequently, I store the extras in my freezer and use them as needed - they last quite a long time this way without losing any flavor or degrading in quality.

Jackfruit can be found at Indian and Asian markets, many health food stores, or even at Trader Joes these days. My favorite brand is Native Forest’s organic young jackfruit. Make sure you are getting young or unripe jackfruit, which has a neutral/savory flavor as opposed to ripe jackfruit, which is orange in color and quite sweet.

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Serves 2–3

Ingredients: 

2 teaspoons coconut oil
½ small onion, chopped into thin quarter-moons
3 scallions, chopped (white and green parts separated)
4 Makrut lime leaves (see note above)
1½ teaspoons ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon garam masala
1 can young jackfruit, drained
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
Cooked basmati rice, for serving

Preparation:

In a medium cast iron or heavy-bottomed skillet with a lid, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and scallion whites and sauté until soft and turning translucent, about 6–8 minutes. Stir in the lime leaves, cardamom and garam masala and cook for 30 seconds or until spices are fragrant.

Add in the jackfruit, coconut milk and salt and stir well. When the mixture begins to simmer, cover the skillet and reduce heat to medium low. Cook the jackfruit for about 20 minutes or until it is very soft. Taste and adjust salt as needed.

Place jackfruit in a serving bowl and garnish with the chopped scallion greens. Serve immediately, accompanied by basmati rice.

Lentil, Roasted Fennel + Blood Orange Salad

This easy salad highlights one of the best fruits of the late winter season: blood oranges. They add color and delightful flavor to earthy lentils and the caramelized flavor of roasted fennel. For an easy weeknight dish, you can cook the lentils and roast the fennel ahead of time and then refrigerate them. Bring to room temperature just before you assemble the salad and you’ll be ready to eat in no time.

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 25 minutes | Serves 4–6

Ingredients: 

¾ cup French green lentils (also called Puy lentils)
1 bay leaf
2 large bulbs of fennel
Olive oil
2 blood oranges
½ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place lentils and bay leaf in a medium pot and add enough water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and cook lentils until they are still firm but cooked through, about 17 minutes (be careful not to overcook them). Remove and discard the bay leaf. Drain lentils in a colander, and rinse with cool water.

Trim fennel of any stalk and fronds (you can reserve fronds for garnish), and then cut each bulb in half lengthwise. Thinly slice each half and place prepared fennel in a medium bowl. Toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and then arrange fennel in an even layer on a baking tray. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing fennel once halfway through, until the edges begin to just slightly brown. Remove fennel from the oven and let it cool thoroughly.

While the fennel roasts, prepare the blood oranges by slicing off tops and bottoms of the rind. Once the ends are removed, cut off one thin slice of blood orange to use for garnish and set it aside. Set the cut ends of the oranges down on your cutting board, and then use a knife to carefully cut the rind and white pith from the flesh of the orange. As you work, follow the natural curves of the fruit. Once both oranges are peeled, thinly slice each orange into rounds and then cut each round into 6 segments.

When you’re ready to assemble the salad, add ¼ cup olive oil, vinegar, mustard and ½ teaspoon salt to a small jar and shake well. Place the lentils, fennel, blood oranges and olives in a large bowl, and pour the dressing over everything. Use a spatula to stir the salad well, and add any additional desired salt.

The salad can be served immediately or refrigerated until ready to serve. When you’re ready to eat it, place the salad in a serving bowl and garnish with the reserved orange slice and a few chopped fennel fronds.

Beet & Apple Salad with Cilantro

This incredibly simple salad was a staple before, during and after my recent panchakarma (Ayurvedic cleansing) experience. The amounts here are really just suggestions - you can play around with different ratios to achieve whatever taste you prefer, and you can also add in ingredients like nuts or seeds. You can also use just one apple, but I find the mix of some sweet red apple plus tart green apple to be the best. For those who are averse cilantro, you could either omit it or substitute another herb (mint might be a really nice choice).

Prep time: 10 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 medium beets, peeled and grated
Half a small red apple, peeled and grated
Half a small green apple, peeled and grated
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely minced or grated
1 small handful of cilantro (leaves and stems), chopped
Juice of half a lime
Pinch of sea salt

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust any flavors to your liking.

You can enjoy the salad right away, although I find it’s best when left to sit for at least an hour before eating - the flavors really come together better that way.