5 Minute Vegan Sauces

Summer times is right around the corner!  What better way to jump start your summer time recipes and dig into some pretty tasty sauces.  Add them to meats, salad, chicken…you name it, it’ll taste delicious on anything you add this too.

Kale Pesto

serves: about 1 cup – 8 servings, 2 tablespoons each

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups torn kale (no stems) and parsley, combined
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (more to taste)
  • 1 clove garlic
    Coupons
  • juice of one lemon
  • ¼ to ½ cup raw almonds

 INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Pulse the kale, olive oil, salt, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth.
  2. Add the almonds and pulse until the almonds are ground to desired consistency.
  3. Serve with pizza, pasta, crackers, eggs, salads, soup, sandwiches, etc.
NOTES

I ended up using about 1½ cups kale + ½ cup parsley. But I’ve made this many times with just about any combination of greens, whether JUST kale, kale and spinach, kale and other herbs… it is a very flexible recipe so adjust the ingredients and quantities depending on what you have on hand. A traditional pesto flavor profile would include basil, but when I made it with basil, I didn’t really love it. Go figure. Just make it however you like is what I’m saying here.

If you don’t want this to be vegan, no probs. Just add a handful of Parmesan into the mix and YUM.

Also really really really delicious = using spicy almonds. I just bought some from a co-op that were already seasoned and spiced and used them in place of the raw almonds.

Magic Green Sauce!

Magic Green Sauce? Made with all green foods // whipped up in five minutes // eaten every day for the rest of my life.
serves: makes about 2 cups (8 servings) – serving size ¼ cup

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 cup packed parsley and cilantro leaves (combined)
  • 1 jalapeño, ribs and seeds removed
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • juice of one lime (or two – get lots of limey goodness in there!)
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
    Coupons
  • ½ cup pistachios (you can sub other nuts )

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Pulse all ingredients – except pistachios – in a food processor until incorporated.
  2. Add pistachios and pulse until mostly smooth (depends on what consistency you want).
  3. Serve as a dip, spread, or sauce — or add additional water or oil to thin the sauce for use as a dressing or a marinade.
NOTES
I did make this with other types of nuts like walnuts and almonds and it worked just fine, but the taste wasn’t as good IMHO. If you can find shelled pistachios, it’s worth the splurge!

Spicy Hummus

DESCRIPTION

This spicy hummus is topped with crushed red pepper, feta cheese, and olive oil. A healthy, easy snack with crackers or veggies!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 can chickpeas, drained
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbs. tahini
  • 1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbs. olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • cayenne to taste (I would start small with 1/4 teaspoon)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Put chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne in a food processor. Process until a thick paste forms.
  2. Add the oil (streaming it in while the food processor is running seems to work best) and continue to add 1 tbs. of water at a time, until the consistency smooth and spreadable.
  3. Sprinkle extra cayenne on top for more spice, and feta to cool things down!