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soba noodles with roasted zucchini, cherry tomatoes + swiss chard pesto
entree, vegan Jodi Moreno entree, vegan Jodi Moreno

soba noodles with roasted zucchini, cherry tomatoes + swiss chard pesto

It's been quiet around here recently, and for a good reason. This little space of mine is getting an well-deserved update, and I should be up and running with the new site next week. 

But while that has been going on behind the scenes, the late summer vegetables are still lingering, in my backyard as well as in the market, and knew I needed to jump back on here and share one last late summer favorite. I hope you haven't moved onto butternut squash on me already.  

It's kind of that in-between season time right now, the days are still warm but at night the chilly air is sneaking it's way in, and before we know it jackets will make their way back into our daily wardrobe. It right about this time that I start roasting my veggies instead of eating them raw, and this is one of those recipes I will be using to get my last bit of late summer indulgence on. 



 

This swiss chard pesto is a new one for me and I've been putting it on anything and everything. I've make kale pesto, and I've made plenty of basil varieties, but this swiss chard pesto is going to be a new staple. Plus it is just another way for me to use and freeze the mass amounts of swiss chard I ended up with in my garden this season.

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heirloom tomato + avocado + zucchini stacks with a tomato almond pesto
appetizer, gluten-free, raw, salad, sauce, summer, vegan Jodi Moreno appetizer, gluten-free, raw, salad, sauce, summer, vegan Jodi Moreno

heirloom tomato + avocado + zucchini stacks with a tomato almond pesto

 

Let's be serious for a second. I'm not fooling anyone with this vegetable stack. 

You and I both know that stacking vegetables makes them look wayyy better than if I were to just carelessly throw them into a salad.  It's impressive, it's fun, it's thought out, it makes you feel super creative. We should all be stacking more vegetables. 

It's like when I get my hair blown out, I just feel a little more fancy and little more special. Same hair, same person, just a little something extra. Same tomatoes, same ingredients, but they just look and feel a little more special. 

When I was at the market the other day, I saw dozens of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes. I wanted to take a bunch home and love them and make them feel special. I didn't want to mutilate them, I wanted to show off their quirky crevices and imperfect shape. I wanted to bring out their juicy texture and taste. I wanted to throw a party and have them be the main event. 

Well, I ended up making this salad and ate it all by myself for lunch. Tomato party for one .... why not, right? But as I was eating it, I daydreamed about how impressive it would be to walk out with these gorgeous stacks of tomatoes as an appetizer at our next bqq. I am going to do that, I think you should too. 

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raw summer pad thai
gluten-free, raw, vegan Jodi Moreno gluten-free, raw, vegan Jodi Moreno

raw summer pad thai

A funny thing happened the other morning. I was going about my morning routine, running a few errands, when I was stopped by a man on the street. He goes:

"Excuse me, would you happen to know where the nearest place is that I can buy a julienne peeler?"

To which I responded "Well, that's funny, because I am actually on my way to buy a julienne peeler."

(whaaaaaat .... soooo random) 

Me: "A few blocks away in the Chelsea Market there is a store called Bowery Kitchen. They sell everything, I am almost certain they will have a julienne peeler."

Guy on street: "Thanks! I am trying to eat healthier, so I thought it would be great for me to buy one so that I can eat more raw veggies."

Right on guy. Right on. 

 

The story does not stop there. So, I continue on my way, run a few quick errands, and head over to buy my julienne peeler .... and there's the guy. Scouring the peeler section. I went over to him and said "Looks like you found it!"

Guy: "Hey! Yeah! I did, but I don't know which one to buy."

Well, then, of course I went on a bit of a tangent about different peelers, what purpose they each serve, as well as different things you can make with raw vegetables. Raw veggie pasta, raw veggie salad, raw veggie noodle pad thai. 

In fact, that's what's been on my mind. Raw pad thai. That's was why I was buying a julienne peeler. 
 

Last summer I bought this crazy, clunky Japanese spiralizer that I would make noodles with. The problem was, I hated using that thing. It was not very user friendly and it was taking up a lot of precious cabinet space. 

There's been a lot of talk recently about a julienne peelers, so I thought maybe that would a better solution than my cumbersome spirilizer. WELL. I am telling you. This $5 piece of kitchen equipment will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Seriously people. Life changing. 

Being able to eat more raw veggies in the summertime, being able to eat my favorite pasta dishes subbing veggies for the bad carbs .... amazing. Yes. Run out and buy one right now. 

Hold on, I am sure that many of you probably already have a julienne peeler, and many of you have probably already told all of your family, friends, and the checkout person at the grocery store how amazing it is. So, those of you can realte to my level of enthusiasm. 

The first thing I made with my julienne peeler was this creamy pesto zucchini dish. Seriously delicious.

The second thing I made was this raw pad thai. I have been dying to make raw pad thai ever since we moved away from my favorite raw foods restaurant, and I am no longer able to order it on the regular. So now that I have my handy fancy julienne peeler I will be making my own. On the regular. 


So the story ends with me the and the guy each buying our own julienne peelers ... and we go off on our merry ways to live happy, raw veggie filled lives. And, I hope (if you don't already have one) you will go out and do the same. 

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raw zucchini "pasta" with an avocado & pea pesto // raw, vegan
entree, raw, vegan Jodi Moreno entree, raw, vegan Jodi Moreno

raw zucchini "pasta" with an avocado & pea pesto // raw, vegan

I probably wouldn’t describe myself as someone with a green thumb.  It’s not that I am not one with nature, or have no instincts when it comes to plants, it’s probably more because I approach growing things the same way I approach cooking. I prefer to go in blindly with little direction and see what works and what does not.

I planted my first garden this summer and it was very apparent that this approach probably does not work as well in the garden as it does in the kitchen.  Or maybe it does, depends on how you look at it. I did make a lot of mistakes, and I learned some key lessons from those mistakes, so maybe that will make my garden next year that much better? I sure do hope so.

Last summer I volunteered one day a week at The Stone Barns Center for Agriculture in their dooryard garden hoping to learn a little from the experts: the passionate farmers and gardeners who work there. I did learn to make a killer trellis from found objects, and I learned about all kinds of plants and vegetables that I had never heard of, but most of all I learned that I had a lot to learn. 

It was kind of overwhelming, especially for someone with very little knowledge of gardening.  So when it came time to build and plant my garden this summer, I decided that I was not going to try and learn everything. I was just going to plant some seeds, give it some love, and see what happened.

The result? An out of control amount of zucchini, cucumbers that are popping up in and around my grape tomatoes, and enough pumpkins to charge for hay rides and pumpkin picking in my backyard this October. As well as a bunch of lettuce that never surfaced, and carrots and scallions that I’m certain were eaten by some sneaky little creatures.

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