Intuitive cooking leads to satisfying simple meals.
Pondering what to do with some ground turkey, I developed a taste for a meatball soup…Italian wedding soup would be good, but I didn’t have any fresh greens or the little pasta balls. Looking at the vegetables in my refrigerator, I realized I had a head of cauliflower to be used. That would do nicely in a soup, the king of simple meals, in my opinion. I had some chicken/lamb stock that I had frozen. What else would give these anchor ingredients some more flavor? Cheese is always a welcome companion to cauliflower, so it was time to pull out a parmesan rind from the freezer. Now we had a direction in which to go.
After sautéing a diced onion in a stockpot with olive oil, I added my concentrated stock along with some water and my parmesan rind to boil while I prepared the other ingredients. I wanted to give the parmesan a head start on flavoring my broth before adding the other vegetables because I don’t want them to get mushy by overcooking, just soft enough.
For the Meatballs I Used:
1 lb ground turkey
one egg
panko bread crumbs
minced dried onion
garlic powder
dried sage powder
a pinch of paprika/turmeric/cumin blend
salt
To the Soup I Added:
Cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
chopped carrots
chopped celery
chopped beet stems
dried basil
dried oregano
dash of Worcestershire sauce
tomato paste
a little frozen spinach added at the end for color
Do you think soup qualifies as a simple meal? Served with “a hunk of bread”, my husband thinks so. We sprinkled the top of this with more parmesan and it was comfort in a bowl. Two days later, the leftovers were even better for lunch. Yes, soup that has a chance to allow its flavors to marry is wonderful!
You can cook delicious brisket in the oven without a recipe. Trust me…and learn to trust yourself!
Are you trying to preserve your family’s recipes exactly as they have always been made or do you put your own personal spin on them? I don’t think it really matters as long as everyone continues to enjoy them. Which are traditional favorites in your home?
When I first got married, I tried to duplicate my mother-in-law’s beef brisket exactly. Sadly disappointed in how less-than-perfect it came out, I began to learn from that experience and develop my intuition in the kitchen. Cooking a brisket in the oven is really quite simple.
How did the heat in my oven compare to hers? How big was my brisket compared to the roasting pan I used? Where is the best placement in the oven for that roasting pan? Many variables impact the quality of a finished dish.
As far as ingredients go, the sky’s the limit on how one could prepare a brisket. I still make it similar to my mother-in-law, Dottie, but rather than relying on exact timing and measurements, I prefer to let my intuition guide me. That’s how you get more comfortable cooking without a recipe.
Preparation For Cooking Brisket in the Oven
Like Dottie, I let the brisket come to room temperature by taking it out of the fridge about an hour before putting it in the oven.
Into a covered casserole that would fit this brisket, I poured roughly equal parts dry red wine and beef broth. Continuing to follow Dottie’s lead, I mixed in some dry onion soup mix; but you could just as well season with fresh onion and spices. The important thing to know is that you want an acidic ingredient to help tenderize the meat as you would with any slow cooked roast. I added some French thyme too.
I put the covered casserole dish into a preheated 350 degree oven for nearly 3 hours. Testing it at the 2 1/2 hour mark with a fork, I decided it could use a little longer to become more tender. Yes, that’s about as technical as it gets. Take the lid off, look at it, stick a fork in and see if it’s tender. Trust me when I say this method is more reliable than counting the minutes.
After sautéing sliced mushrooms, I poured the brisket gravy into the deep skillet with the mushrooms while the finished brisket rested.
In a small cup I put about a teaspoon of flour and ladled a little gravy into it while whisking with a fork. Ladled a little more gravy into the cup while whisking until I had a smooth slurry to add to the pot of gravy. Let that simmer a bit until thickened. That’s all there is to it. Cooking brisket in the oven is easy and leftovers are just as good…
What else can you put into the oven and let it do its own thing? Read Don’t Be Chicken. There’s nothing to roasting a chicken either.
Please reach out with any questions and if you enjoy this blog, continue to share via your favorite social media using the buttons below.
Smart grocery shopping means less trips and better meals.
Do you want to go grocery shopping less often while continuing to eat fresh, healthy meals every day? You can if you have a system. I typically shop once every 2-3 weeks and use what I bought in a strategic manner. Smart grocery shopping leads to easily cooking without recipes.
How?
Before I go shopping, I take inventory of what I have remaining in my refrigerator, freezer and pantry so that I don’t needlessly buy more of something I won’t use right away.
Here’s an example of how my refrigerator might look before I go shopping. I have condiments in the door and a few onions and a few limes in the bottom drawer. A few random vegetables and fruits with long shelf life remain, such as squash, apples and part of a cabbage. The only fresh proteins left are some hard cheeses and eggs, so for me, that means it’s about time to shop. But I could still use what I have there for some time if I wasn’t able to go out because the freezer is still fairly full of proteins, vegetables and fruit. My pantry is also well stocked with rice, pasta, beans, oatmeal, nuts and a few canned goods.
What Do I Buy At the Market?
Fresh produce and proteins mostly. I load up my cart with one of each fresh vegetable offered…well, almost. I think about how much of each vegetable we can reasonably eat within a given period of time. Lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes will be consumed during the first week. Bell peppers, celery and collard greens can wait a bit longer. Carrots, beets and sweet potatoes can wait even longer. Take note of how fresh the produce was when you bought it and be sure to use it within a reasonable amount of time. You shouldn’t have to throw anything away.
Here’s what my refrigerator looked like after shopping.
How To Organize the Fridge
First I removed and set aside whatever I had remaining from before. Then I restock new items in a way that makes sense in order to help myself use things in the proper order. Produce that doesn’t have to be used immediately can go on the bottom shelf. Things I want to use sooner go in front and center. Fresh proteins go on the top shelf where it’s coldest in my refrigerator and arranged in a way that tells me what to use first. Fresh fish always gets priority.
What About the Freezer?
Fresh bread goes into the freezer along with anything else that I don’t think we will use in the immediate future. So in the first picture I had some grapes that we hadn’t consumed prior to purchasing new groceries. I plucked them off their stems and put into a plastic bag for the freezer. They can go into a morning smoothie along with some fresh veggies and raw nuts for breakfast.
What’s For Lunch?
What does lunch look like? Below is an example of lunch right after grocery shopping. I bought some cute microgreens that I knew needed to be consumed very quickly. So I combined them in a salad with some other new, very perishable produce and a couple of items that were remaining from before I went shopping. I had a part of a can of black beans in the refrigerator and some pieces of cooked chicken in the freezer that I didn’t really have room for after I went shopping. So I heated the beans and chicken in a skillet with some chopped onion, cumin, oregano, paprika, smoked paprika. Then I made a salad dressing with crushed garlic, salt, mandarin orange juice, salsa and olive oil. After tossing the vegetables in the dressing, I topped with the seasoned chicken and beans.
What’s For Dinner?
What would be on the dinner menu immediately after grocery shopping? If I had bought fresh seafood, that would have been the first thing to think about. In this case, Michael had requested hot dogs on hamburger buns…so, we did diverge from my usual, most practical approach. A package of unopened hot dogs can sit in the refrigerator for some time or be frozen, so I don’t consider them top priority to be eaten. However, because he requested hamburger buns, I decided we might as well eat them because those are big fluffy things that take up way too much valuable real estate in my freezer, which is where the uneaten buns were headed. So I decided hot dogs were a reasonable request. That being said, sliced whole grain bread, French bread, flatbread and tortillas get priority in my freezer. Smart grocery shopping also requires smart storage.
An opened bag of frozen French fries balanced out his plate. I had some leftover roasted cauliflower dressed in pickling spice. To each his own…to be fair, I had already snacked on some potato chips before dinner. Yes, I snack too…
What do you think of my approach? I find it liberating not to plan a weekly menu and follow recipes. Buying lots of fresh items while stocking the freezer and pantry with essentials means I can create something new every day depending on what I combine. Start with smart grocery shopping and get cooking without recipes confidently.
For more on vegetables and my strategy, please read Keep It Fresh next.
Cooking tri-tip is as simple as preparing a steak.
What do you do when organic steaks are not available? Buy something else. Last time I went shopping, the only organic beef I could find aside from ground was tri-tip. I always enjoy tri-tip at restaurants, so why do I often neglect to buy it at the market? I guess I think of it as a barbecue meat, and since I don’t have a grill, I decide to leave cooking tri-tip to someone who does.
This reasoning doesn’t have any merit obviously. The main thing to understand is that tri-tip is a lean cut, so you really don’t want to overcook it. There are lots of recipes out there suggesting that a dry rub will help tenderize it. Let me know which is your favorite preparation.
Cooking Time for Tri-Tip
Examining my unusually small tri-tip, which was only a pound, I decided that I could treat it like a steak. For me that means heating a skillet in the oven at 500 and then putting the seasoned, oiled tri-tip on that hot skillet under the broiler. The steaks I usually buy take about 4 1/2 minutes using this method. As the tri-tip was bigger and thicker, I decided to start with 6 minutes and then evaluate. At that point, I decided to flip it over and cook an additional 4 minutes and then let rest on a warm plate for 15 minutes covered with foil. Learning to cook intuitively means you can gain confidence in cooking without a recipe.
I had considered searing and baking the tri-tip, but for one this small one, I decided it was unnecessary. I have seen general guidelines for handling a bigger tri-tip in that manner to be 10-15 minutes per pound and in this case 10 minutes under the broiler was just right.
The time allowed for the meat to rest gives me a chance to put some vegetables on a cookie sheet to roast in the oven. And then of course I couldn’t waste the browned goodness left in my skillet. That’s a sauce waiting to happen. Diced onions and water help scrape up all that flavor. Wine or stock would be great instead, but I decided there was plenty going on here without it. Minced garlic and sliced mushrooms finish it off. Season with salt and enjoy the masterpiece you cooked without a recipe.
The tiny bit of leftovers topped a delicious salad for lunch the next day. Served with guacamole and chips, it was also a simple and satisfying meal.
Read Make Steak next for more on broiling steak and glamming up some veggies.
Want to know how to cook pinto beans? It’s easy and you don’t need a recipe.
I keep forgetting to buy refried beans in a can and that’s what my husband wants for tostadas. On the other hand, I had a 2 pound bag of dried pinto beans, so why not cook them? Michael balked, “You can’t make refried beans from scratch.” Um…I am sure millions of Mexicans would disagree. Do I have a family recipe? No, but I was sure I knew how to cook pinto beans that would be delicious and form the basis for multiple simple meals.
I didn’t have to use the whole bag of beans at once, but I had 8 ounces of chopped ham in the freezer that would flavor them up, so I decided to cook all two pounds after inspecting them and soaking overnight. We could eat the whole beans the first day and I could mash some up another day. The rest could go into the freezer for later.
I began by cooking a gigantic diced onion in some olive oil in a big pot. To that I added a couple of stalks of celery and half a bell pepper, chopped. Minced some garlic and added two frozen cubes of chipotle and the bits of ham. Beans and enough water to cover them. Let simmer for a few hours. No sweat. Cooking without a recipe is easy and fun.
Spices I Used:
3 bay leaves
dried oregano
dried thyme
cumin
paprika
As for making these “refried style” a couple days later, for me that meant pureeing some beans in the food processor with some salsa and crushed coriander and simmering in a nonstick skillet until they reached the desired consistency.
Tostadas with homemade “refried” beans
I apologized to Michael about not having any cilantro or ripe avocadoes, but he said the beans were so good that he didn’t miss those ingredients. Hmm…fine praise from a guy who believed refried beans must come from a can!
To learn our method of making the tostada shells, please read Michael’s Famous Tacos. They could be the inspiration for many simple meals.
Here’s how the tostada base will look before adding the beans:
Baked tortillas with cheese
After putting some of these whole pinto beans into the freezer, they reappeared later with the addition of a little barbecue sauce. Hello barbecued beans with ribs and greens! I love cooking once for multiple simple meals that everyone loves.
My suggestions on stocking a pantry simplify cooking without a recipe.
I continue to be asked for a list of items to stock in your pantry and I have hesitated to compile one because I don’t think there is a one size fits all on this subject. Individually, you need to take a look at what your family likes to eat and find ways to stock essentials in non-perishable, long shelf life form. That is paramount to cooking without a recipe.
If you like to bake, you want to keep items that will allow you do so. We don’t generally eat a lot of bread, so I don’t consider that high priority. But if you do and especially if you have a big family, that may rank higher on your priority list.
That being said, I will attempt to provide suggestions on what I like and think is a good idea. One could certainly keep cans of chili, soup and spam in the pantry. It doesn’t hurt to have a few ready made food items like that for a dire emergency. However, I personally prefer mainly to keep things in a form that most resembles what you would find in nature and use those ingredients in different ways.
Vegetables and Condiments
Although fresh vegetables are not technically pantry items, I continue to suggest always keeping on hand: cabbages, hard squash, root vegetables, onions and garlic. They have a long shelf life in the refrigerator and will serve you well once your more perishable vegetables have been consumed. Think also about which vegetables and proteins you might keep in the freezer. I like frozen spinach, green beans, corn and bell peppers, for example. Fish and ground meats perform well in the freezer too. What about condiments? You will always find soy sauce, miso paste and tahini (sesame seed paste) in my refrigerator along with sesame oil because I don’t use it up very quickly and I don’t want it to go rancid. Cooking without a recipe is simple when combining fresh, frozen and pantry items.
Assorted cabbages and dried ramen noodles tossed with a soy vinaigrette are delicious and make the most of a few other fresh ingredients
Other Essentials
In addition to food items, it’s always a good practice to keep enough essential items like bottled water and sanitary products to carry you through a time of emergency. You shouldn’t have to run out to the store every other day for such basic items. So it was a shame to see the panic that ensued when some people decided to hoard those products, making it difficult for others to get what they needed.
If your tap water isn’t palatable or suitable to drink, can you purchase a basic filter rather than depending on bottled water on a daily basis? There are so many options out there these days and it’s not difficult to find an effective and inexpensive one. As far as convenience and practicality, I think it sure beats hauling bottles here and there frequently.
Disclosure: If you purchase a water filtration system from the company that I recommend, I may be compensated.
I have been a happy customer of Aquasana for over 15 years. We recently blind tasted water from a number of other filters and still prefer ours. It’s easy to use and has saved us money and labor over the years.
Are there shelf stable items that you use often? Perhaps consider buying more than one next time you shop. I use a lot of olive oil, so I will always buy more than one bottle at a time. Same thing for canned tomatoes, beans and pasta.
If you have pets, please remember to stock something for them too.
What Do You Mean?
When I first moved out on my own, an older friend made reference to some “pantry items” that she considered necessary to stock and I had trouble imagining what that would mean for me. I was used to buying only what I needed for the week and I wasn’t accustomed to eating anything from a can. I also happened to be on a tight budget. What I eventually learned is that you don’t have to go out and spend twice as much money as normal in one weekly shopping trip. Simply buy one or two extra shelf stable items each trip so that you can always have something to eat if you aren’t able to go out and buy fresh. It makes cooking without a recipe easy.
Below is a list of items I use frequently and try to keep stocked or that I know I can use in an emergency. Some of them are sustenance and others are flavoring agents. Some are ethnic items that I am very familiar with. You may not be, so feel free to ask me about them and continue to read my blog to find out what to do with them. No doubt you have your own regional favorites and I would love to hear about them!
My Pantry Suggestions
olive oil
grapeseed oil or other cooking oil with high smoke point (such as vegetable or canola)
canned vegetables (I prefer fresh, but I do like canned artichokes, hearts of palm and pumpkin. It doesn’t hurt to stock a few others just in case. Green beans, mushrooms, corn?)
roasted red peppers in a jar (I usually roast mine fresh, but…)
giardiniera (Italian pickled vegetables in a jar)
crackers
oat milk in a shelf stable carton
dark chocolate bar
beef jerky (and other dried proteins such as squid…)
This list is by no means exhaustive and many of these items should be refrigerated once opened. If you live alone, you can buy some items like tuna in a single serving pouch now. Rotate products like crackers and granola every few months because they have a longer shelf life than fresh items, but not indefinite.
I hope that this helps you think about what you might like to keep in your pantry and how you might become better prepared for an emergency. Feel free to share your own suggestions.
For one idea on a satisfying meal made entirely with pantry staples, please read Pantry Pasta Perfection.
Shop smart and make the best use of what you bought for zero waste cooking.
Some of you have asked about freezer meals. What I know is that most foods can be frozen for later use. I very often freeze leftover meat and chicken. I pick it apart after the first meal enjoyed and freeze it that way. Then it’s so simple to take out as little or as much as I want at some future point and it defrosts easily. I can easily add it to whatever vegetables and starches that I desire. Work smarter, not harder while practicing zero waste cooking.
Reinvented, this leftover pork became fajitas served alongside cabbage salad.
I don’t even remember how I prepared the first meal we enjoyed using these country style ribs (which are not really ribs at all, BTW). It was before I started taking pictures of food because my primary interest in food is eating it, not taking pictures of it…which I have now begun to do for your benefit.
I do remember that I slow cooked it and the following day picked the meat apart and slathered some with barbecue sauce for sandwiches. The remainder went into the freezer for later because it was a lot of meat. A huge package had been on sale, so that’s what I had bought and cooked. I most often cook the first meal relatively ungarnished so that I have more latitude to create something completely different with it next time. I think that’s an important element to zero waste cooking. And it’s part of what I call a no-plan meal plan.
The meal pictured above was made almost entirely from the freezer: cooked pork, bell pepper strips and tortillas. Cabbage, as we know, has an extended shelf life in the fridge, as well as the onions. So as far as I’m concerned, it’s basically a pantry meal. Seasoned with:
garlic
cumin
oregano
smoked paprika
This dish bore no resemblance to the other two meals we had with the same protein. I consider that success. Zero waste cooking for multiple interesting meals!
Likewise, leftover chicken from the freezer makes soup in a snap
Leftover steak makes a great salad topper the following day
Try planting veggie scraps for zero waste cooking.
I applaud my friend Tina, who is making the most of her available land by deciding to plant a vegetable garden. I can hardly wait to see how everything matures. So many varieties she has chosen!
For many of us who cannot plant so extensively, we can still think about small, edible things we might grow in a pot. I wouldn’t describe myself as having a green thumb, but my friend, Debra, told me once years ago about green onions. “Throw the root ends into some dirt and they know what to do.” Yes, she was right. Even I can grow green onions in a pot. Zero waste cooking!
You can try planting a celery stump in a small space too. I have also planted a sliver of beet root. They are both sprouting leaves. We shall see where it leads!
Do you have a sunny spot for some tomatoes? There is nothing like a home grown tomato! How about some fresh herbs?
I heard that Swiss chard doesn’t need much sun. It’s also beautiful.
I saw these artichokes yesterday and thought they were breathtaking. Usually harvested for food before they’re allowed to flower, these were allowed to bloom so that we could appreciate their beauty.
Everyone loves flowers. Could you plant edible ones? Nasturtiums have a delicious peppery flavor, besides being visually stunning with their bright orange hue.
What can you plant and grow?
See what a difference even just a tiny sprinkling of green makes by viewing Pepper Prepper.
Smart grocery shopping less often starts with fresh produce and proper timing.
I hate grocery shopping, which is why I have always done it as infrequently as possible. I could have it delivered, but then I would be giving up the quality control of inspecting everything before purchase. I believe in the importance of being prepared for an emergency, so I try to maintain a supply of necessities for at least a couple weeks. As far as food goes, what does that mean? Canned goods, dried beans and rice? Yes, but you can still eat fresh food for more than one week if you plan ahead and practice smart grocery shopping.
Shopping Fresh
Fresh fruits and vegetables are the foundation of our healthy diet. Eating a wide variety keeps things interesting. So I load up on all kinds at the market. I am that person you hate standing behind in line while the cashier has to look up all the codes for vegetables they are unfamiliar with. They sometimes have to stop and ask me to identify some of the items. Once an 18 year old cashier held up a vegetable and asked, “What’s this?” Raising my eyebrows, I smiled and answered, “Celery.” Really? He didn’t recognize celery? What’s he been eating his whole life? Potato chips and boxed cereal? Now, I would understand if it was something like jicama or chayote, but celery?!
Timing is Everything
How can you have fresh fruits and vegetables that will last for more than a week? By buying a variety and understanding which ones to eat first. So the first week I can have salad with lettuce, tomatoes and avocados. I can have dandelion greens and spinach. These are very tender and need to be used quickly. Hardier greens like Swiss chard, kale and collard greens will stay fresh a bit longer. Broccoli, cauliflower and bell peppers could probably go into the second week also.
Of course, use the spirit of a sound mind. If it didn’t seem very fresh to begin with, it’s not going to get any fresher, so use it before it goes bad. Keep an eye on how things are aging and act accordingly. You shouldn’t have to throw anything away if you use your produce in the right order. Of course this applies to fruit also. Fresh berries and bananas would be eaten first. Apples and citrus can wait a while if you keep them refrigerated.
Root Vegetables
Now let’s talk about the unsung heroes: root vegetables. There’s a reason why our grandparents kept root cellars. If you cut off the green tops, (and eat those first! Please don’t throw them away!) the root vegetable can sit around in a cool environment for a length of time, remaining fresh and nutritious. No doubt you are familiar with one of the most common: carrots.
A few weeks ago, a beautiful 5 pound bag of bright, crisp, organic carrots was on sale for a ridiculously low price, so I bought one. Would I usually buy 5 pounds? Probably not unless I had something special planned especially for them, but it was such a great deal and I have no doubt that I will use them. I haven’t used carrots as a major star in my meals yet, but I have been using one here and there for added color, flavor or texture in so many things. Eventually, I will finish them. Meanwhile, they happily sit at the bottom of my refrigerator, staying crisp and beautiful along with some turnips, beets and potatoes.
Other Superheroes
Among other vegetables that would have been kept in a root cellar are onions, squash and cabbage. I always keep some of those on hand. I rotate many different varieties to keep things interesting. So if I haven’t been shopping for a few weeks, I can still have salad in the form of cabbage. I wouldn’t have fresh tomatoes anymore, but I have them in sun-dried form. I could pull a few out of a can of diced tomatoes if I wanted. With the appropriate dressing, that works rather well. But who says you have to have tomatoes in a salad? What about some chickpeas (AKA garbanzo beans)? How about some raisins? I’m just getting started!
For one suggestion on using squash and legumes, please read Squash Your Prejudice next.
Learn how to make pesto without a food processor. It’s easy!
Today I talked to my friend, Ingrid, who was very disappointed with a pesto marinated chicken that she had purchased. She decided to salvage what was left of it by mixing it with some other ingredients because she reasoned that so many people are hungry and it seemed a shame to throw away. Bravo for zero waste cooking! I would have done the same.
After mentioning that pesto was easy enough to make, she said she didn’t have the machinery to do so. So I probed further. No food processor? No blender? What about that thing you use to make your morning smoothies? “Oh, yes! I have one of those!” she suddenly realized. Yes, you can learn how to make pesto without a food processor.
Making Pesto
Because I usually use a food processor to make pesto, I decided to test it with the appliance she owned. Did it work? Yes, but it requires a little more love because you’re not adding so much liquid except for a little olive oil. (A possible solution for this if you’re making pesto for pasta: Add a bit of the starchy pasta water to the container and blend that together. You would add a little pasta water to the pesto and pasta combination before serving anyway.)
After blending for a few seconds, I would scrape around the sides of the container to mix and then with the top restored, shake it a little. Then I hit the power for a few more seconds and repeated the process a couple more times. Had I not thrown the stems in there, it would have been fine. Stems??? Yes, stems. You wouldn’t garnish the top of an elegant plate with chopped stems, but for pesto, it’s totally fine, provided they get chopped up small enough.
Here’s an aside on basil stems, in particular: A few years ago I accidentally discovered that chewing on them temporarily relieved a terrible sore throat I had been suffering from. Apparently basil is an analgesic! Who knew?!
Mortar and Pestle
Another low-tech alternative would be to use a mortar and pestle, which is in fact, my favorite kitchen tool besides a good knife and chopping block.
Assuming everyone probably knows what a mortar and pestle look like, but here is the mortar I have been using for 25 years. Unfortunately, I dropped the original pestle on the floor once and broke it in half. I continued to use it that way for some time until my friend, Hagar, surprised me with a new one some years ago. A true friend!
When going to someone else’s home to cook, I sometimes ask, “Do you have a mortar and pestle?” The usual response is a blank expression, followed by, “I can’t imagine what I would ever use it for.” LOL.
Well, it’s just about the easiest way to crush some garlic to make a quick salad dressing or to grind up some whole spices. By the way, whole spices stay fresh just about indefinitely, while ground spices need to be replaced every 6 months. I like keeping a wide variety of spices in my cabinet, but I prefer them whole if I don’t use them weekly.
I am thankful to have grown up in a metropolitan area where I have been influenced by cultures and cuisines from around the world. The mortar and pestle were introduced to me by friends from the Middle East when I first discovered the bold, fresh flavors of garlic, lemon and parsley. After experimenting with all kinds of other contraptions, I came to agree that the mortar and pestle are the way to go.
Ingredients
Now, back to pesto: You can make it with just about anything. Most people are familiar with the basil version which typically includes: pine nuts, garlic, salt, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. But why stop there? How about a spinach pesto?
I love pairing cilantro pesto with fish. For that, I usually leave out the cheese and make it with a different nut because pine nuts are so expensive and a few people have told me they have an allergic reaction to them. I prefer using either walnuts or almonds. (Raw nuts are a wonderful addition to your pantry, by the way. Just put them in the refrigerator after opening the bag.)
Got another nut? Cashews? Pistachios? I have used them all and have found that I often don’t even feel the need to add cheese, so if you’re dairy-free, no problem. Be careful with the salt, especially if your nuts happen to be salted. You can always add more, but you can’t take it back. Experiment with adding a little citrus juice too. Go nuts!
Pasta with shrimp and cilantro pesto made using NutriBullet
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