Awesome Sauce Redux

Rice paper salad rolls with a side of Awesome

Biz gave me this recipe a few years ago. It's fresh, lively, and herbal. Biz, our friend Tim, and I ate it on everything for an entire summer: salad, cooked veggies, rice, quinoa. Play around with the herbs, and throw in handfuls of whatever's handy.

It's basically a pesto, sans diary, and it's vegan, if you replace the honey with a hippie sweetener (agave, maple, etc.). I always think I've made too much, but then it disappears in a couple of days.

One batch = about a pint

 Recently, I found my original hand scratched recipe (no doubt dictated by Biz over a bottle of wine on her porch, on a lovely summer evening in Woodacre). I thought I'd share the written recipe, instead of typing it out. The paper version is so homey and used; I love it.

You can make substitutions where you see fit, and make it thinner or thicker by adjusting the water (I use just a tablespoon or two), just don't leave out the orange juice (squeeze it yourself), ginger, or garlic. Substitute avocado for the oil, if you want. You can exclude the soy sauce, and up the salt (or not). Also, I add four or five cloves of garlic. Is one clove ever enough for anything? And I throw in loads more herbs than the recipe calls for.

The original recipe, c. 2006 (you won't need that much water!)

Instructions: Chop up the herbs by hand first, then throw everything in a blender. I always start with the garlic, ginger, and seeds, so I can be sure they are blended to a fine consistency, then add the herbs and liquids. Blend until smooth. Awesome Sauce will thicken, and the flavors will meld in the fridge, but you might not be able to wait that long. Keeps for about 5 days. Enjoy!

Makeshift Greenhouse

Who knew that a north-facing laundry room could double as a greenhouse? 

When I planted these babies during that hot spell in late February, I was rolling the dice, figuring that if spring had arrived early, I'd have quite a jump on tomato season.  (I am so smart, thought I.)  If it turned cold again and killed everything, I'd have only wasted a couple of plants.  Well, winter returned with a vengeance and in a fit of insanity, I brought all of the potted plants indoors, covered the laundry room table with a tarp and hoped for the best. 

Ta-da!  Check out my tomato plants - they're growing like crazy!  And, this, in a room that the sunshine never hits.  Apparently there's just enough light to keep everybody alive - two tomato plants, parsley, cilantro and a couple of random house plants - woo hoo!