Broccoli-Almond Pesto with Rice Noodles

Phew! It's been a busy few months...resulting in a severe lack of posts! My apologies. The good news is that I've got a good number of recipes ready and waiting to be shared with you in the coming weeks - Yay!

So, back to it...it's spring again, and that means time to clean up our diet a bit. By way of another blog I frequent, I found a great New Year's cleanse hosted by Whole Living Magazine. It's called the Whole Living Action Plan 2012. It's a three week diet cleanse that has you omitting everything except fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, beans/legumes/tofu (in week 2), and gluten-free grains (in week 3). For non-vegetarians, the diet also permits the addition of seafood and eggs in weeks 2 and 3 respectively. It sounded challenging in the beginning, but after the first few days we got the hang of it and really enjoyed starting the day with a big smoothie and eating a new variety of vegetables and fruits throughout the day. We all get in our ruts where we find ourselves eating the same things week after week; this was a fantastic kickstart to get back to eating new and varied whole food meals!

We're currently rounding out our third week and feeling fantastic. I've gained energy and lost some weight (yay!). I highly recommend it for anyone feeling the effects of the long winter (both in health and pant size!). Today, I'm sharing one of my favorite recipes from the Action Plan so far...it's a Week 3 recipe but it was soooo worth the wait!! It combines almonds, basil and broccoli to create an incredibly vibrant pesto...one that I would happily use in place of any other based on a standard recipe. Trust me when I say you'd never know there's broccoli in there! Because the diet is exclusively gluten free, it calls for use of rice noodles; however, use any noodles you'd like based on your own preferences.

Rice Noodles with Broccoli-Almond Pesto

Ingredients
1 head broccoli, florets and sliced stems
6 tablespoons raw almonds
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
8 ounces rice noodles
Sliced almonds (optional)

Directions
1. Steam broccoli florets and stems until bright green and just tender, about 3-4 minutes. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking process and set aside. Roughly chop 1 cup cooked florets; set aside.

2. In a food processor, puree almonds until they resemble a course meal. Add remaining ingredients (except noodles) and puree until smooth. Set aside.

3. Cook rice noodles according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, drain noodles, and return to pot. Toss with pesto, adding reserved pasta water until creamy. Top each bowl with chopped florets, small basil leaves, and sliced almonds.

Enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from Whole Living Magazine's Whole Living Action Plan 2012

Roasted Squash and Macaroni Casserole

Every summer our family is lucky enough to benefit from my in-laws' plentiful garden. Almost every visit from them in the late summer weeks includes handfuls of fresh produce like garlic, onions and tomatoes! But what we all look forward to the most is their late Fall offerings of Hubbard Squash! If you haven't tried this type of squash you're missing out! It's so smooth and creamy and you'd swear it's drenched in butter...but it's not!

Anyway, I wanted to do something different with them this year, rather than eating them mashed or in a soup like we usually do. I found this recipe on one of my favorite Iphone apps - the Whole Foods Recipe app (you can access this service online as well here). You tell them what you have on hand and they find a recipe for you! This one looked so good I had to try it...and it was such a hit that I've made it several times since.

The recipe calls for butternut squash, but I used my Hubbard. I just roasted the whole thing and scooped out the cooked squash as needed. You could also used can pumpkin here too (be careful not to pick up the pie filling). I also added a bit of frozen chopped kale for some extra nutrition...I imagine any greens would work, or even chopped broccoli or peas.

The final product is creamy and filling, and the walnuts add a really wonderful delicate crunch. This recipe is the perfect comfort food and a fantastic substitute for traditional mac and cheese. It would be welcomed at any potluck and therefore great for the holiday season as well!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 pounds or 3.5-4 cups mashed)
1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk (light or regular)
3/4 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried sage
3/4 pound dried elbow macaroni, Penne or other small pasta (454g box minus about a handful)
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1-2 handfuls frozen chopped kale (or other greens) (optional)
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Method
To roast the squash, preheat oven to 400°F. Roast diced squash for 25-40 minutes until fork tender. If you're roasting a whole squash cut in half you'll have to roast it for at least an hour...timing depends on how large and thick your squash is. Once cooked, mash roasted squash, leaving some chunks.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9x13-inch casserole dish; set aside.

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add roasted squash, coconut milk, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in sage and kale and simmer 5 minute more. (This part can be made ahead, up to 1 day in advance.)

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender but still firm, about 8 minutes. Rinse in cold water, drain well and transfer to a large bowl. Transfer squash mixture to bowl with macaroni. Add walnuts, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Transfer to prepared dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake until just golden brown and hot throughout, about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

This recipe is from Whole Foods Recipe index at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes