Sautéed Avocado & Nectarine Salsa

Sweet, savory, which to choose? With this salsa, you don’t have to. It’s got the tangy sweetness of the nectarines, coupled with a healthy dose of garlic and the incomparable mouth feel of the avocado. Throw it all together with a little salt and pepper and sauté in vegan butter, and you’ve got yourself a sweet and savory flavor bomb that goes well on a variety of dishes. I roasted a sweet potato for this salsa’s accompaniment, but it would go well on a rice pilaf or over tofu.

If you need some spice in your life, how about adding some cayenne pepper to the mix?

 

I love this salsa because sautéeing it allows for crunchy texture to form on the nectarines and avocado. Don’t be afraid to turn the heat up under the saucepan to allow that texture to form. (But don’t, you know, burn the butter.)

Serve immediately! 🙂

 

Vegan Banana Bread, or: that time when I baked something completely unrelated to the Fourth of July

On our nation’s birthday, when most Portlanders are sampling craft beers and scarfing down grass-fed ribs and hot dogs, I chose to make vegan banana bread.

And it turned out amazing.

Thank you to Quiche-a-Week for the recipe!

 

Here are the dry ingredients: buckwheat flour, spelt flour, hemp protein powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

This is me after I tried to look sad about the half-defrosted bananas, but instead giggled uncontrollably from being put in front of a camera.

Some of the ingredients for this recipe are the BEST! If you haven’t tried Earth Balance, you have not lived. It is equal or better-tasting than actual, animal-derived butter. Hi-Fiber Hemp Protein is something I haven’t sampled too much, but it’s a fairly bland supplement that can go into smoothies and juices without muddling the taste too much. As for Bob’s, there just aren’t enough great things to say. The Bob’s Red Mill headquarters is just north of me in Oregon, and I’m planning to take a trip up there really soon.

Pro tip: this recipe calls for ground flax seed to be used as a binder substitute for eggs. If you can’t find ground flax seed and want to just grind up whole seeds, that’s fine–but rinse your blender out immediately after! Once those seeds get wet, they tend to stick. I guess that’s why they are such a great replacement for eggs!

So here it is all mixed up and ready to go. I gotta say…it doesn’t look very appetizing.

But it turned out delicious! The bread was fluffy, tender, and satisfyingly crunchy with my addition of coconut flakes. My resident taste tester reports, “I like that it’s not too sweet.”

I’ll definitely be saving this recipe. I think a jam, Earth Balance, or PB would go great as a topping, but it’s perfect just the way it is.

Happy Fourth!