Boy, do I have a delicious recipe for you today! Last week at the local Farmer’s Market zucchini and squash arrived and suddenly the world was right again. In addition, I set my eyes upon the first crop of fingerling potatoes. I admit, I’m a potato girl y’all. Grilling was on my mind but that’s not what took place.
This happened.
Zucchini and squash salad with pesto.
This was a perfect meal after a day on the lake. I spiraled the zucchini and squash raw with my spiral slicer to make ribbons, threw them on top of some mixed greens, added a can of garbanzo beans and the fingering potatoes that I hard gently boiled to soften. I whipped up my go to pesto dressing and BAM, dinner was served. I have to say for a quick, super fresh, and loaded with goodness meal this one rocked.
My only disappointment was that tomatoes are just not quite seasonally there yet. Sigh. But it did make for one pretty plate.
This pesto is so good, you’ll never notice that it’s dairy-free! Nutritional yeast adds cheesy flavor.
Pesto
Makes 1 generous cup
– 2cups tightly packed fresh basil
– 1/2cup walnuts or pine nuts
– 1 to 2cloves garlic, roughly chopped (to taste)
– 1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil
– Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
– 1tablespoon lemon juice
– 3tablespoons nutritional yeast
1. Place the basil, walnuts or pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor fitted with the S blade. Pulse to combine, until the mixture is coarsely ground.
2.Turn the motor on and drizzle the olive oil in a thin stream. Add the sea salt, pepper, lemon, and nutritional yeast, and pulse a few more times to combine.
Zucchini and Squash Salad
Makes 4 servings
– 4 small to medium zucchini
– 4 small to medium squash
– 1 8oz package of mixed greens
– 1 can of organic garbanzo beans
– 15 or so small fingerling potatoes
1. Boil the potatoes gently for about 20 minutes on medium. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
2. Spiral slice the zucchini and squash in to ribbons, put in a large mixing bowl with the mixed greens.
3. Add 1 can of drained garbanzo beans to bowl with mixed greens, zucchini and squash.
4. Once potatoes have cooled, slice in half and add to the bowl.
5. Add in 1/4 cup of pesto at a time and toss all ingredients gently to combine. I used about 3/4 a cup of the pesto.
Optional: Open a bottler of your favorite vegan friendly wine, take it to your porch with your salad and enjoy among the sounds and sights of a summer evening. It doesn’t get much better.