Chick Peas!

Yes.
Fresh Chick Peas, or Garbanzo Beans... is it a Pea? Is it a Bean?

Let's just settle for Legume.
They look like tiny little brains.

They're pretty good. Way better than in a can.
We have a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) at Sungold Farms, located in Forest Grove, OR.
We buy 2 shares and every week for about 4.5 months we get fresh, local, organic produce. We pick it up at the Farmer's Market downtown on Saturdays.
Once a year they give us Chick Peas.
You pop them out of their pod, with a little pop sound, like that bubble wrap with a prize inside.
There's only one per pod, so it takes awhile to fill up, oh say, 1 Cup.
But they're so good. I didn't know beans or peas or whatever could taste so fresh, I always had them from a can.

Okay, well enough of that.

I put them in stir fries. That's all I've done with them so far.
Maybe next year I'll grow some, since you can grow them in this climate, and attempt some raw Humus or something.

I think to grow them you just get some dried ones and let them sit in water, or keep them wet, and they start sprouting.

I'll keep you posted.

Stove Top Rice & Veggie Casserole

Stove Top Casserole!?
Yes, Stove Top Casserole. Because the oven is still broken.

Let's get started.
Soak the Rice. Long Grain, Organic, Lundberg's Brown.

Round up the usual suspects:
Serrano Peppers, Garlic, Beans, Shiitake Mushrooms, Asparagus, Nutritional Yeast, Tahini, Coconut Milk.

Start the Rice.
Rice, of course, one part Coconut Milk, one part Water, Toasted Sesame Oil & Olive Oil.

While that's starting, prep the Veggies.

I'm not sure if this is necessary, but it seems that the Rice needs to get going on it's own before adding the Veggies, which could of course be added once the Rice started boiling, but for some reason I'm not doing it like that.
So saute the Garlic & Pepper.

Add Veggies.
And Seasoning.
Lightly saute until the Rice begins to boil.

Add Nutritional Yeast to the Rice.

Add the Veggies.
Simmer.
For a while.

Hope you brought a book.

Don't forget to check after a while.
Yep, a while longer.

Actually, it only simmered for about an hour.
I'm sure if I would have turned it up to, perhaps, oh say, a high simmer, it would have been done sooner.
But still. It's pretty good.
Just as good as if I were to have baked it.

And, I'm learning that Pesto goes pretty well with things other than Pasta & Toast, like this dish.

Pesto!

It's Basil season, which is good, because you need lots of Basil to make Pesto. And right now, we have lots of Basil.

Basil is pretty much the only key ingredient that I use in my Pesto recipe that is in traditional Pesto... I mean, ya know aside from salt & olive oil and lemon or lime or whatever.

Speaking of ingredients:
Clockwise, starting at 6p: Serrano Pepper (which I recommend not using), Garlic, Basil, Cashew pieces, Nutritional Yeast, Arugala, and Lemon in the middle.
Not pictured is Salt & Olive Oil.

The traditional Pesto recipe I know is non-vegan. I know it be as follows:
Basil, Walnuts, Salt, Olive Oil, Parmesan... Lime...?

But whatever, I like Cashews & Nutritional Yeast better than Walnuts & Parmesan, and they're cheaper.

On to the Unorthodox Vegan Pesto.
I have noticed that what you put down first affects the consistency of the recipe, like with the Raw Soup, Tomatoes first.

For some reason, Garlic & Cashews go first.
That's the consistency I like I guess.

Next is the Basil & Arugala, and the Serrano Pepper.

Followed by Nutritional Yeast & Lemon

And finally, Olive Oil.
I forgot to add Salt. But that's what taste tests are for.

Process.
You may have to use a rubber spatula or something to shove down some of the ingredients that were violently thrown up on the side of the reservoir, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get a nice even consistency.

Give it a taste.
You guessed it, needs Salt.
It is also, at this point, that I realized I would not recommend Serrano Pepper.

As it turns out, we have plenty of room so we can do it all over again with the ingredients we want in another layer.
Garlic, Cashews, Basil, Arugala, Salt, Lemon, Olive Oil, Nutritional Yeast

And process...
Taste test results are excellent, much better than before and maintains the same consistency, so this totally blows my theory about order of ingredients out of the processor.

But lo, we have more room for yet more Pesto.
So lets do it again. That last layer combo seemed to work.

Garlic, Cashews, Basil, Arugala, Lemon, Salt, Nutritional Yeast.

Taste test.

Yep, that works.

This goes good with Pasta, Toast & Crackers, but I'm making this for a stove-top version of Veggie & Rice Casserole, because the oven is still broken, which will be my next post.