annaliesemaree appetizers, recipes, sides

parsley-feta hummus

sabra hummus has always been my favorite store-bought brand. it has a really smooth consistency & great flavor, with whole garbanzo beans and herbs on top. I wanted to try to create a rendition of the sabra hummus at home, and had a lot of parsley on hand, and this is what I came up with. traditional pesto with pine nuts, parmesan, basil and garlic would’ve been really good too I think, it just happened that I had a large jar of feta from last week’s black been tacos & walnuts in the fridge.

parsley-feta pesto:

blend one cup packed fresh parsley with one chopped green onion in a blender. add 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 cup olive oil, and blend until almost smooth. crumble 1/2 cup of feta and a handful of walnuts into the blender and pulse. add water to smooth if necessary.

even though a food processor is first on my list of “big things” to buy, I’ll admit that I like the consistency of hummus made in a blender even more.

basic hummus:

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans

1/4 to 1/3 cup tahini

1-2 T. plain yogurt

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

rinse and drain the garbanzo beans, reserving about a tablespoon. pour the rinsed beans into the blender, with the tahini, yogurt, salt, and lemon juice. add the oil, and turn the blender on. Add water until the consistency is how you’d like it. when the hummus was finished, I put about 1/4 of the pesto I had made into the hummus, mixing just slightly. throw the extra garbanzo beans on top.

annaliesemaree breakfast, recipes

white peaches

1 cup plain yogurt

1 white peach, sliced

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

assemble: layer the peach slices between half cups of yogurt & sprinkle with the cinnamon. add a tsp. of honey or maple syrup to sweeten! enjoy. the peaches I’ve been using at my house are from my roommate Lydia, who is working at Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance and is receiving a CSA share for the season. The peaches are from Kistaco Farm, in Apallo, PA.

annaliesemaree recipes, soup

rethinking raw: gazpacho soup

For just over a week now, I’ve been attempting a raw food diet. Attempting, only because I haven’t eaten just raw foods, allowing myself the flexibility since maintaining my schedule didn’t allow for complete fatigue. I think at the beginning I was less than enthused with my meal options. I spent a lot of time thinking about food and what I was missing out on, instead of thinking about what I could still make with the ingredients available to me. Once the caffeine headaches subsided and I allowed myself a little creative freedom, things got much better.

This is my recipe for raw gazpacho-I’m not entirely sure if Tabasco sauce is raw, so that’s my only hesitation. It’s extremely easy, and event though cooked food has been working its way back to my plate, I liked the gazpacho so much I’ve made it twice in the past five days.

(mostly) raw gazpacho

  • 3 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1 cucumber, cubed
  • 1/2 sweet onion, roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1-2 cups fresh vegetable juice
  • 2 T. lime or lemon juice
  • salt & pepper
  • Tobasco sauce, to your liking (I used a smoky version of the sauce, which gave the soup great flavor)

Combine the chopped tomatoes and vegetable juice in a food processor, and blend till smooth. Add the cucumber, onion, cilantro, and lemon or lime juice, and pulse to chop the veggies. Season with the salt, pepper and Tobasco sauce. Serve with chopped cilantro and avocado slices.