Roasted Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto

Erica, Shaun, and I went to the farmers market the other day to check out some beautiful, fresh, local, organic produce. I stumbled upon these gorgeous red carrots that were shades of yellow and orange on the inside. They had these massive tops to them and I knew I had to figure out a way to cook them. Throwing away all that nutrition would be blasphemy. I asked the farmer who sold them to me what he did with them and he said he once made a pesto using the tops. It was like music to my ears. I would roast the carrots and top them with a carrot top pesto. It turned out absolutely amazing! Never again will I be throwing away carrot tops.

1 large bunch of carrots with tops
1-2 tablespoons of light olive oil, for roasting
1/4 cup basil
3 tablespoons macadamia nuts
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup light olive oil, for pesto
Salt and pepper, to taste

Erica and I at the market, it's amazing we didn't melt in the heat.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Wash the carrots and remove the tops, making sure to save them. Cut the carrots into even segments. I left a little bit of the tops on the carrots to make the dish appear more rustic but the tops became brittle in the oven so I suggest just removing the tops completely.

Prepare a baking dish by spraying it with non stick cooking spray. Toss the carrots in the oil set aside for roasting and bake until fork tender, about 25 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the pesto. Add roughly 1 1/2 cups of reserved carrot tops to the food processor along with the basil, macadamia nuts, yeast, garlic- blend. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, continuing to blend until all the ingredients are well incorporated and somewhat sauce-like. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Once the carrots are tender, arrange them on a dish and spoon the pesto over top. Serve warm.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I had two green peppers in the fridge, a box of mushrooms, and not much else. This was very a much a 'throw-something-together-and-lets-hope-it-works' meal. I made it for my family quickly and ran out of the door as I had plans for the night. Several hours later I received a text from my mom saying 'dinner was awesome!'. I was elated since I always struggled with turning bell peppers into an enjoyable meal. Not only is it up to par in the taste category but it is insanely easy to throw together too.

 2 green bell peppers
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
1 box white button mushrooms
2 tablespoons braggs liquid aminos/soy sauce/ tamari
1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning
1 cup steamed broccoli (you can sub this for any other leftover veggie you have in your fridge)
1/4 cup diaya cheese + extra
Small bundle of scallions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Halve the bell peppers, removing the seeds. Place in a small casserole dish that has been sprayed with non stick spray.

Rinse quinoa until water runs clear, then add it to a pot along with the broth and bring it to a boil. Cover and reduce head to a simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking quarter the mushrooms. Saute them in a pan with a little olive oil until they let out all their liquids and start to shrink down in size. Add in the liquid aminos and steak seasoning, continue to saute until tender. Remove from heat and place the mushrooms in a large bowl.

Cut the steamed broccoli into bite sized pieces and add them to the bowl with the mushrooms.

Dice the scallions and saute for 2 minutes, then add to the bowl with the mushrooms and broccoli. Toss in the diaya cheddar and the quinoa once it is done cooking. Stir the contents of the bowl until fully incorporated, then spoon into the bell pepper halves.

Bake for 55 minutes, until the peppers are tender. Sprinkle a little more diaya cheddar over top and broil for 1-2 minutes before serving.