A hopeful spring bitter start...

SO... I'm new at this! That's for sure. I have followed a lot of food blogs, especially lately, to get ideas and fodder for the radio bit I have been doing with Eryn at 107.5 Kiss Fm. I love the way people lay out such beautiful pictures of their creations in some of these blogs. Like art work! More and more I find myself being drawn to sharing my ideas and experience in the food industry and doing this bit on the radio is REALLY driving this passion forward.

I am shocked and appalled at the state of our food industry and our acceptance of the 'out-of-the-box' culture we have adopted as a rule. Our lives are now ruled by time and no longer by quality. The days of making home made bread and jam have been replaced by splashy marketing slogans geared towards convenience and it is acceptable now, to buy dough from some far off factory, place it in your oven for 8 minutes and call that home made!

I fully understand that planning to feed our families takes time and energy, but I feel the fundamental issue with how we eat actually stems from lack of education about how to cook!

I personally don't believe there is one way to cook or really any rules to it. All I know is that food is what you make it... and we are, truly, what we eat.

A spring time recipe for today: A bit of Bitter... Arugula Pine Nut Pesto

Arugula, also called rocket, is one of those hidden gems of spring time eating! Peppery in flavor and packed with goodness, makes arugula a favorite with chefs and foodies alike. Make sure to toss some arugula seeds into your lettuce patch!


You will need:

2 handfuls of fresh Arugula
A few basil leaves
60g of asiago cheese (grated)
Maybe 2 tbsp's or so of Olive oil
1 lemon (zested then juiced)
3 cloves of garlic (less is fine if you don’t want it too garlicky)
1.5c toasted pine nuts
(to toast, put in a dry frying pan over low heat until you can smell them toasting. They burn easily so toss them intermittently).
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
A few stems of fresh chives
1 tbsp of diced red onion
Pinch of salt
Fresh pepper to taste.

In a food processor, toss in your garlic cloves, basil leaves and arugula leaves. Run until smooth. Add your toasted pine nuts, red onion, your olive oil and asiago cheese. Run the processor again, drizzle your balsamic vinegar and lemon juice in. Add salt and pepper, then run one last time in the processor until you have a smooth paste. Garnish with fresh chives and lemon zest.

Pesto can be served in a variety of ways. Toss with fresh pasta, use as a sandwich spread, toss with roasted veggies or add yogurt and use as a veggie dip... Use your foodie imagination!

Pesto also can stay in your fridge for 5 days or portion it into ice cube trays, freeze it and take it out when you need it.

**Tip** You can use walnuts, sunflower seeds or even hemp seeds for the base of this pesto. Experiment!