Gooooooooood evening!
[My second favourite way to greet you, said of course in a creepy Dracula type voice.]
I hope you are having a great Thursday so far! My day has been good. Lots of productivity! I got caught up on my orders and I am now in full swing for Oakville Organic Farmer’s Market Prep for Day 2 on Saturday. The way I envision the summer going is I will do my online orders Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then I will spend Thursday and Friday preparing for Saturday’s market. In theory of course!
Oh dinner.
Oh me oh my.
First, I should tell you what led to such a fantastic dinner.
I went on a 4 mile run early this evening and worked up a huge craving for PASTA. and PESTO. Garlic Scape Pesto if you catch my drift (evil cackle).
Do you ever just want pasta and pesto? I typically don’t! You might already know that I am not a big pasta lover; it’s on the blog once a month, if that. Generally, I just find that pasta doesn’t taste very good to me. However, I don’t mind spaghetti noodles. Spaghetti and angel hair pasta are my two favourites. When I crave it, I must have it within 24 hours.
I’ll get back to the run first though.
The run was hot, hot, hot and humid, and more hot, and super windy! I wasn’t trying for speed in tonight’s run; my only goal was to make my last mile the strongest. Eric came with me on the bike.
Random side note– I told Eric that you guys were saying how trim and healthy he is looking lately and I think he was really happy. He tried to act nonchalant about it, but I secretly saw him smirking! :biggrin: I have been thinking about asking him if he would write a blog post talking about the changes he made, how he did it, and how he is now feeling…would you guys be interested in something like that? I think it might be cool to have a male perspective on making healthy lifestyle changes…
The run:
- Distance: 4.05 miles
- Time: 38:04 mins
- Avg pace: 9:24 min/mile
- Avg heart rate: 152 bpm
- Max heart rate: 175 bpm
Mile splits:
- Mile 1: 9:23
- Mile 2: 9:39
- Mile 3: 9:26
- Mile 4: 9:12 (hell yes!)
It was a sweaty one today!
Afterward, I did Polly’s Yoga for Runners, COLD shower, and when I came downstairs I was all kinds of starving! I made a new post-run refreshing snack that I will be sharing with you in tomorrow morning’s post. Stay tuned, it was delicious and took just 1 minute to prepare.
After re-fueling, I had energy to make dinner.
Wear a bib because you will drool!
I started off by making a double batch of my 3 minute vegan parmesan cheeze! Love this stuff. I sprinkle it on salads, sandwiches, soups, etc.
Then I made a double batch of my Easy Vegan Garlic Scape Pesto:
That is only half of what I made. For this double batch I also added a handful of basil that I had lying around. Prepare for your house to smell FANTASTIC.
Sadly, I only made a tiny dent in my stock pile of garlic scapes! I still have a full bunch + 3 scapes to use up. Luckily, they seem to keep really well in the crisper or I would be in trouble.
I put half of it in a freezer-safe Pyrex glass container and into the freezer it went for a rainy day…
Then it was time to really get started on dinner!
Asparagus Garlic Scape Pesto Spaghetti
[Adapted from Fat Free Vegan]
- 7-8 pieces of asparagus, with ends snapped off
- Whole wheat spaghetti noodles (make as much or as little as you want- I made enough for 2)
- 1/2-3/4 cup of Easy Vegan Garlic Scape Pesto + more EVOO or milk to thin out
- 1 medium ripe tomatoes, diced (optional)
- Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Directions: Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and toss in asparagus (with ends already snapped off). Cook for just 4 minutes and remove, placing into a colander and rinsing with cold water (this stops the cooking process). Bring the same pot of water to a boil again and toss in spaghetti noodles. Cook until al dente. Remove, drain, and rinse with cold water. Set aside. Chop your tomato. Take 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the vegan garlic scape pesto and place in a bowl. You will want to thin it out, so you can add extra virgin olive oil until desired consistency and/or you can add non-dairy milk or a thick creamer to achieve desired consistency. I added more EVOO, but next time I might try adding almond milk too as it was still very thick. Put noodles back in the pot and then add the thinned out pesto. Mix well until the noodles are fully covered with the pesto. Chop asparagus and add in tomato and asparagus into the pot and mix well. Season with freshly ground pepper and sea salt if preferred. I turned the heat back on and warmed it up again or you can serve it cold. Your choice!
I love Pasta + pesto! So decadent tasting, yet very healthy and packed with lots of superfoods.
Eric really loved this dish too.
Dessert…
Oh, by the way…Eric planted the basil outdoors in a pot! I hope it grows!!! Grow, basil, GROW!
We both do not have a good track record with plants. If it grows, it will be nothing short of a miracle.
He also planted a green onion bulb. A lovely reader named Colette told me that you can take the bulb of a green onion and either plant it in soil outdoors or just place it in a glass of water and it will GROW! [Colette, did I do it right?] :biggrin: I hope so. I will eagerly await this bad boy to grow!
Well, this gal is going back to work for at least a couple hours. I need to get as much done as possible tonight so I am not rushing around like a crazy woman tomorrow getting ready for the farmer’s market!
Until tomorrow, mes amies!
I think it would be awesome if Eric wrote about the changes he’s made. For some reason in my life I feel like it’s harder to get males to change to healthy habits- maybe because they are pre-programmed to love greasy breakfast sandwiches haha, I don’t know, but it would definitely be interesting to hear a male perspective!
Hey Ange,
I learned that little trick with the green onions a while back. I acutally use the whole bundle of bulbs, though! They grow pretty quickly if you don’t cut them back too much. You can chop off the tops and then let it grow again!
I made your strawberry jam last night and it was SO good! I couldn’t believe how easy it was!! Thanks for the recipe :)
I can’t wait to see if your basil grows!! If it works, I may be inspired to try it as well. I’m generally death to plants too, so if a fellow non-green thumber can pull it off, maybe I can too!
OMG, YES- I would love for Eric to write something for the blog!! That would be awesome!!!! :)
Hi Angela,
I’ve recently found your blog and am just loving it! I read it several times a day and have been having a great time catching up on old posts. I just wanted to pop in and let you know that nutritional yeast contains MSG due to the way it is processed. In my own healthy journey, I have been trying to avoid MSG as much as possible due to its toxicity to the brain and have found several ways that it is hidden in our food. I just wanted to pass this on from one healthy journey to another.
Keep bringing the wonderful recipes. The homemade Larabars are awesome!
Kristin
Hi Kristin!
Thanks for your nice comments about the blog! I have heard that about MSG– I think some brands contain it and some do not. I will have to look into my brand and see! Thanks for reminding me.
Angela
Love the dracula sounding greeting, it makes me think of True Blood and my love for that show!!! I’m not so much of a green thumber either, although I did plant a plumeria in the spring that my best friend brought me back from Hawaii and it is coming along beautifully. I also have hibiscus that have actually been blooming. As for veggies and herbs, those will be my next projects. I figure if I can grow flowers why not veggies….of course, TX soil sucks!
Pasta was one of the foods that made me be 230 lbs. at one time in my life. I love pasta, but of course now I eat it sparingly and in a very healthy manner. Your pasta looks absolutely to die for.
You weren’t kidding about a wet, hot, humid run. I did my run yesterday morning at 5AM and even then, it was 82 degrees with like 95% humidity….ugh! I was drenched and had to get showered and ready for work. Yuck!!!
OMG that looks AH-MAZING!!! I just tried my first ever nut cheese the other day- it was fantastic!!!
Angela,
I just found another garlic scape recipe for you! Stock!
http://markbittman.com/spontaneous-stock-from-scapes
Love that idea!
Lovely pasta dish! I would love to hear Eric’s perspective on the healthy changes he made!
Eric should have a monthly “man post” OSG, I love reading guests posts.
Great job on your run; it’s so hard to run when it’s hot and humid! The pesto looks amazing. I always like to freeze it and use it in the winter when there’s no fresh pesto available (store brands have nothing on homemade) for a fun reminder of summer.
I would definitely be interested in reading about a guy’s perspective on healthy changes. My DH is trying to make some of those changes right now!
Mmmmm pesto pasta. I need to make some soon! My basil is almost big enough for me to harvest that much!
Yes to the Eric guest post and YES to angel hair pesto pasta!! I’m not a big noodle person either (it’s a texture thing – wet and slimy don’t do it for me). But every now and then I’ll get a hankering for angel hair or egg noodles and it must be satisfied!!
There were TONS of garlic scapes at the Boulder Farmer’s Market yesterday and when I asked one of the vendors what you can use them for guess what he suggested. Pesto!
Hey Angela! I love the idea of Eric doing an Oh He Glows post (haha). You’ve been a huge inspiration to me in changing my lifestyle for the better, and it’d be great to see a male perspective for my live-in boyfriend. I asked him if he would be interested and he said “sure!” *And I think he meant it!* Haha :)