Raw Vegan Angel Hair "Pasta" with Pesto

Last night’s dinner was courtesy of the garden. The smell of basil is intoxicating; permeable when watered. I don’t think you can ever sow enough basil seeds. I’m considering growing it in my sunny foyer.

I harvested a hoodie full of basil or 3 tightly packed cups and several zucchini including pastel green Clarimore and buttercup yellow Golden Dawn. Seeds are from Squash, Zucchini, "Tricolor Mix" and were purchased from Renee’s Garden Seeds.

I learned to make Angel Hair Pasta with Pesto at Judita’s Raw Food 101 class and speaking of, her next class will be held on Sunday May 3 and I highly recommend it. Since taking her class I have incorporated more raw foods into my diet, feel full and fueled, crave less cooked food, and have experienced weight loss. I fit into 3 pair of old jeans. Woot!

The pièce de résistance; a perfect spring/summer dinner. Not one burner needed for this rich guilt-free dish. This pesto recipe is sans blanching and I used raw almond slivers instead of pine nuts because it’s what I had on hand.

My tweaked recipe for pesto:
1 cup basil leaves, tightly packed
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil (I use Braggs)
¼ cup of raw almond slivers
1 garlic clove, crushed
¼ teaspoon of sea salt

Pasta Noodles:
3 zucchini, peeled and cut into thirds. Cut in half if zucchini are small.

Thin noodles can be made with a vegetable spiral slicer or you can simply use a vegetable peeler and make “fettuccine” type noodles. Draw the peeler down all sides until you reach the core.

Toss with pesto and enjoy!

Lastly, yesterday I started day 1 of pre-cleansing in prep for THE colon cleanse. The wonderful Judita turned me on to Blessed Herbs colon cleanse. The first three days you gradually decrease your solid food intake in anticipation of a five day liquids only fast. Here’s the satisfying and sustaining food I ate:

Breakfast: Organic Raw Kombucha-Multi-Green flavor
Lunch: Organic apple & a handful of organic flax & sesame seed tortilla chips
Dinner: Raw vegan angel hair pasta with pesto & three vegan chocolate chip cookies. I had a weak moment.

Tonight’s dinner will be sunflower herb pate with shaved beet salad and chard with homemade lemon herb dressing. Beets, chard and lemons are from the garden and I’ll forgo the cookies.