When I had the raw lasagna at Wildflour reminded me of a way to “cook” I forgot I knew. During the Winter I’d roast anything and everything and make heavy sauces for food to add flavor. I don’t like to cook as much in the Summer; I can’t remember the last time I even turned our oven on. It’s just too hot. And when the produce and herbs are so flavorful, they even taste better with less done to them.

Raw food is perfect for the Summer because the flavors are clean and powerful. While this could seem complex it takes less than 10 minutes to put together. The only tools necessary are a standard vegetable peeler and a food processor. It’s a little more complex than a salad, but completely worth it. 

Raw Zucchini Noodles With Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Ingredients for 2 servings

For the noodles:

• 2 zucchini
• Vegetable peeler

For the pesto:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 1/2 handfuls basil
• 0-2 cloves of garlic(depending on how much you love garlic)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 2-3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the noodles, simply peel long strips of zucchini until reaching the center. Discard the seedy core.

For the sauce, combine the pumpkin seeds, basil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Turn the processor on and slowly pour in the olive oil until the ingredients blend into a smooth paste.

Toss the pesto with the noodles. Serve cold or at room temperature with extra veggies.

I wasn’t sure how the “noodles” would hold up, but they twisted and twirled just like any good pasta. The zucchini held on to the sauce well, too, and since it has such little flavor let the pesto shine. It’s not something I’d eat every day because I like my eggs and beans, too, but it’s fun for a change.

Apparently I get my love of cooking from my great grandmother. I say apparently because I never really knew her when she was active; I only ever heard stories of her cooking from my mother. And my grandmother never cooked; she comes over to my house and asks for freshly baked cookies. Is it just me or is there something wrong there?

From what I hear, my great grandmother was a great cook. She made her pasta, tomato sauce, and everything else by hand. A few nights ago my mom mentioned how she poached eggs in tomato sauce, and as soon as I heard that I knew I had to try it. Turns out it’s not so difficult and makes for some of the best tasting eggs I’ve ever had. I’ve already made this twice because I didn’t bother taking photos the first time. How could I mind having to eat this again?

Eggs Poached In Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup your favorite marinara sauce
• 2 eggs

For this recipe, I used Trader Joe’s marinara sauce. You can make your own if you’re feeling ambitious, but this is a great tasting brand that’s cheap, too.

Bring the tomato sauce to a slight boil in a pan. Adjust the heat so that it’s boiling but not spattering over the sides.

Carefully crack the eggs into the sauce, making sure not to break the yolks.

Cover the pan with a fitted lid. Poaching the eggs this way takes slightly longer than normally. Leave them undisturbed keeping an eye on them.

The eggs will be done as soon as the albumen over the yolk turns white. Take the pan off the heat and plate and serve hot.

I served mine over a stack of savory Italian socca pancakes which soaked up the sauce and the yolks perfectly. Cooking the eggs this way added all the flavors of the sauce into them; regular poached eggs just can’t compare.

If cooking has taught me anything, it’s how to cover up mistakes. That’s my favorite part of cooking as opposed to baking: It’s never too late to fix things. I wanted to make a black bean and tempeh taco filling until I realized the tempeh I bought had barley and rye in it which I’m severely allergic to, so that was a no-go.

The second mistake that day was the chickpea flour “grits” you see in the top left of that plate. That’s what you get when you mean to make a tortilla but the batter’s too thin and never comes together. It actually wasn’t bad with a little seasoning and would have been even better with some shredded cheese or Daiya. See? Never too late to fix things.

So even if this wasn’t what I intended to make at all when I started cooking that day, it still tasted incredible. And isn’t that what matters? Oh, that and looks. Looks always matter.

Spicy Cocoa Black Beans With Kale

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 cup kale, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons taco seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine the black beans and kale in a pan over medium heat with the oil already heated. Cover the pan for 2 minutes until the kale has steamed and changed into a deeper green color.

Remove the cover and season with the taco seasoning, cocoa powder, and cinnamon.

Serve hot into a tortilla wrap, taco shell, with rice or all by itself. Use a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt to mellow the spice if necessary.

I really like this, mistake or not. And that grits I could eat again and again with enough cheese on top. So don’t be afraid to make mistakes because you just might knock one out of the park anyway.