Having recently purchased a blender, I am a little excitable when it comes to [naturally] processed food. My diet has been partially liquid for the last four days, and I don't intend to stop. Liquid devotion aside, I did concoct a few recipes that combine blended sauces and such with solid, chewable foods, creating simple, easily recreated meals.

First up is the sauce itself: broccoli cashew pesto. 

You will need:

1 1/2 cups cooked broccoli

1 cup raw spinach

1/4 cup soaked cashew pieces

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 large minced garlic cloves

plenty of olive oil 

salt and cracked pepper to taste

Soak cashew pieces in water for 2 hours

Boil broccoli until tender

Combine strained & dried cashew pieces, minced garlic, broccoli, spinach, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor

Pour at least 2 tbsp olive oil in the blender, and hit the puree setting

Simultaneously add olive oil through the blender opening while pureeing, and allow to puree until smooth (you can add more olive oil to thin the sauce if you'd like)

Add salt and pepper to taste (I used about 2 tsp of sea salt and 1 tsp of freshly ground pepper)

You're done. Yields about 1.5 cups pesto (this is a highly improvisational recipe, so you can adjust the amounts to your liking, as the finished product is dependent upon how thin or thick you would like the pesto)

Prep time (excluding cashews, which can be done the night before): 10 min

Cooking time: 5-7 min

Now that that's over with, you can make the following...

Garden Layer Sandwich 

This open faced sandwich was inspired by the 4-layer vegan sammy from oh she glows, an enviously enticing vegan food blog that produces recipes as good as its photography.

You will need:

Sprouted bread (I used Ezekial sprouted 7 grain)

A sliced tomato

Hummus of your choice  

Baby spinach

Broccoli cashew pesto

Sriracha

Vegan ranch ---> good recipes here and here

Toast two slices of bread

Spread each slice with a tbsp (or more) of hummus

Assemble a layer of baby spinach atop the hummus, followed by a couple slices of tomato 

Spread a tbsp of pesto on top of the tomato slices

Drizzle with vegan ranch and Sriracha 

Yields one sammy, but can be duplicated if not satiated. 

Prep time: Negligible

Cooking time: Negligible ( killin' the lazy culinary game)  

The next pesto-coated recipe is...

Pesto Marinaded Baked Tofu Salad

I read a lot about baked tofu on The Kitchn. Then I decided it would be brilliant to pose the "let's make pesto into a marinade" challenge to myself. Unknowing of the end result, I hesitantly thinned the pesto into a marinade in which I immersed strips of tofu, and then baked them. The final product was not only edible, but delicious, so now it's on this infrequently read blog. 

For this recipe, you will need:

1 block of organic tofu

Broccoli pesto (bla bla)

Spinach

Collard greens (blanched)

1/4 cup cashew pieces

1 sweet onion (I used a Vidalia)

1 carrot, shaved 

1 tbsp olive oil

Lemon juice 

Filtered water

Reduce excess moisture in tofu by setting it between two plates, and putting pressure on the top plate with soup cans or something similar; liquid will collect around the block of tofu

After the water is squeezed out, dry the tofu with napkins or cheesecloth

Cut the block of tofu into one inch strips

Thin the pesto with lemon juice and water (I also added hot sauce)

Dip the tofu in the marinade, and arrange on a plate

Pour the remaining marinade over the tofu strips

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, if not overnight 

After it's sufficiently marinaded, put on a baking sheet and make for 40 minutes at 350

For the salad, throw together the spinach, onion, cashew, shaved carrot, and blanched collard greens (as much as either you can eat or is appropriate for the guests you are serving). For the dressing, use the olive oil and lemon juice, and add sea salt and pepper to taste. You can put all the dressing fixings directly on the greens. Then, top with the baked tofu. I thought three strips was enough for one, but eat ALL THE TOFU if you please. 

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Assembling time: 5 minutes

Lastly, you can exhaust your pesto use by making pesto and "spaghetti" [squash].

I forgot to take a picture of mine, of course, so this one is taken from Living Well at Market Street via Google search. 

To make spaghetti and pesto, cut the squash in half and rub with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the squash halves face down on a baking sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Allow to cool and scoop out the spaghetti.

Strain the squash to eliminate excess water, toss with some pesto, and top with fresh chopped tomato and basil. 

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Cooling/assembling time: 20 minutes

Eat all the squash, all the tofu, and all the layered sandwiches until you can't bear the thought of consuming pesto and would prefer to be hammock-style-carried to your sleeping quarters. 

Tell your mom I said you can "EAT IT,"