It had been a long and delightful weekend. Ken and I spent a wonderful weekend in San Diego, taking bubble baths in the hotel and walking to the Gas Lamp district for all of our meals. Sunday afternoon after our lunch we decided to head back to Riverside. We were both tired and our pockets had been emptied on the streets of SD. As we got in the car I adjusted my seat, what better way to enjoy a car ride I thought, then to take a nap.
As I lay in slumber for about an hour I began to feel the all familiar pain in my stomach indicating the need for food. Thoughts began to run though my head, should I stop somewhere, maybe pupusas? or perhaps I can cook something when I go home? equally as delicious at a fraction of the cost.
We stopped in Moreno Valley, Mana's Restaurant was sadly closed, out of business would be more like it. This was a clear indication from the higher being that I indeed had to cook my own meal. It occurred to me at that moment that I had a canister of fresh basil, some nutritional yeast, nuts, and more pasta than I may consume this year. I got home and headed straight to the kitchen. First I gathered the ingredients.
Basil about 2 cups
(fresh) pine nuts (about 1 cup)
Olive oil (1/4 cup, give or take)
Nutritional yeast (1/3 cup)
I put all the ingredients in the blender, as my sad existence has disallowed me the luxury of a good food processor. I overworked the blender of course, the poor thing began to blow smoke, and I unintentionally cooked the pesto sauce I was going to use. After about twenty minutes of blending, poking, prodding, and yelling at the blender, I had a nice, textured but smooth pesto sauce. I poured some of it over some pasta and had my first home made vegan pesto pasta.
THREE DAYS LATER
I opened the refrigerator, the food supply was dwindling right before my eyes. I stared at the empty refrigerator, SUDDENLY I spotted the Tupperware under some Naan. It was the left over pesto. There had to be another use, I wasn't in the mood for pasta.
Ken came home while I was pondering.
"Happy Birthday" I said as I greeted him with some store bought sushi rolls, and a beer.
Yet I stood there, with a rumble in my stomach thinking, why didn't I make myself some dinner. I watched Ken eat his sushi and stole a piece or two from him. They were delicious...yet still a part of me was incomplete. I needed to do something with that pesto and I had to do it soon, before it, like the broccoli moved on to a better world, were vegetables thrive and live without the fear of being eaten.
Ken went upstairs to change for a night out with his friends. He had every right to celebrate, and I thought about tagging along, but all I could do was turn over the notion of various dishes that might include pesto. Many required me to buy ingredients and I needed to use what I already had, before it too, like the broccoli....yes you understand.
When Ken finished getting ready we both grabbed our things turned on the alarm and climbed in the car. We had, on a whim, decided to buy a new dishwasher. The excitement in my belly was no longer hunger, it was butterflies at the thought of getting a new dishwasher. It was more like Happy Birthday Jackie!!!! We picked out a nice black Frigidaire, paid for it and mosied on out of Best Buy, satisfied and excited, at least on my part.
The drive down magnolia was less than inspiring, it was downright depressing. The amount of closed down buildings, failed businesses, was astounding. Then, in the distance, I saw it. My heart sank and broke into a million pieces at the sight of the closed building. CHICO'S Mexican Restaurant was gone. No more delicious Vegan Mexican food in Riverside. I thought about all their delicious food and wondered, did they ever use pesto? No...
As we neared Central a thought came to my head. Sweetie Face?(that's what I call Ken) Can we stop by Trader Joe's? I need some Pita. There was a swirling explosion of ideas in my head, Pesto, Tomatoes, cheese, Peppers!!! PIZZA.
I walked into Trader's made my purchase and ran out to the car. Ken drove me home and as we walked in we walked our separate ways. He went upstairs to get finish getting ready for his night out with the boys and I took my regular spot in the kitchen.
I took out the following things from my ice box
Pesto Sauce (home made)
Vegan Creamed Cheese
Vegan Cheese
Fresh Tomatoes, from someones garden
Bell Peppers
and of course the highly sought after Flat bread.
FLAT BREAD not Pita there's a slight difference. I took out three round flat bread slices, with my butter knife I spread an even layer of vegan creamed cheese on all of them. I continued the trend and added a nice even layer of pesto to each, I sprinkled just a bit of grated vegan cheese and topped it off with a nice delicious layer of fresh tomatoes, and a few bell pepper slices on top. I baked at 350 for about 15 minutes and then at 400 for five minutes. This gave me an especially crispy crust. The Pizza was delicious. I ate all of it on my own and I didn't even feel guilty about it. Thank you oh mighty god of pesto. Your creation has made my day slightly more appealing.
