ROMESCO, CASHEW CHEESE, CHICKPEA, HERB FLAT BREAD (VEGAN PIZZA)

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Okay. So you know when you make something and it is just SO good that you then make it multiple times in a row?

That happened with this Romesco.

I proceeded to use it multiple days in a row with a variety of meals.

First as the sauce for a buddha bowl that contained roasted potatoes, broccolini, mixed greens and avocado.

Then as the dipping sauce for savory waffles made from hash brown potatoes, served with roasted broccolini, caramelized onions, avocado, herbs, and fried eggs.

THEN as the sauce on flat bread. First I made this with a cauliflower crust, because that's what I had on hand and then this time with a flour crust that I picked up. Both were grade - A delicious, if that's even a thing.

My point is, you are going to want to make the romesco and then make this pizza. And in time I am sure I will come up with more ways to use this Spanish dip.

INGREDIENTS | Makes two 10inch Pizzas (Serves 2-4)

Cashew Cheese:

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in very hot water for 15-30 minutes* (see note)

• 1/3 cup fresh water

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, more to taste

• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

• pinch crushed red pepper

• salt and black pepper to taste

Pizza:

• 2 (10inch) Pre-made Pizza Crusts, of choice, We bought ours from Trader Joes in the frozen isle

• 1 recipe Romesco

• 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, more if desired

• 1/4 cup sliced fresh basil or parsley or a combination of the two

• black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Start by making the cashew cheese. Rinse and drain the cashews after soaking them. Then add the cashews, fresh water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and crushed red pepper to a high-speed blender, like Vitamix. Turn on low and slowly increase to high and blend until smooth and creamy. There should be no chunks of cashews. You want it to be thick but pour-able. If needed add more water or lemon juice to get it to desired consistency. Set aside.

Then follow the package instructions to make the pizza crust. It will tell you the tempurature for the oven and how many minutes it needs to bake and any other special requirements for the crust that you chose.

Layer on half of the Romesco to each pizza crust as the sauce, and place in the oven for the specified amount of time. Remove from the oven, add the cashew cheese and garbanzo beans and place back in the oven for 1-2 minutes to warm up.

Then remove and add the fresh herbs on top. Sprinkle with some black pepper. Slice and serve!

*Note: If you do not have a high-speed blender like a Vitamix, soak your cashews for up to an hour or overnight to protect your blender and to make sure you get a creamy consistency.

ALSO, if you have been loving my recipes then you I am so excited to share that my first ever cookbook Vegan Buddha Bowls is now available for pre-order.

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Book Depository:

THE BEST ROMESCO. EVER.

A couple weeks ago, I hosted a women's retreat and we ended up having some left over food like bell peppers. The Costco sized bag was more than enough and I was trying to figure out what to make with them before they went bad.

The usual fajitas or burritos seemed uninspiring and I wanted something different.

Then on Valentines Day, my boyfriend and I went out to a local wine bar and ordered a Mezza Plate, which if you do not know is a Mediterranean crudites platter. On it was hummus, olive tapenade & Romesco.

PERFECT! I thought. That's what I am going to make with these left over bell peppers and it turned out awesome.

Like so freaking delicious I made it twice in the span of 4 days and used it for 3 different meals/recipes.

You are going to want to make this, I know you will love it.

INGREDIENTS

3 bell peppers (I choose one each of yellow, orange and red)

1-2 tbsp melted coconut oil

salt

1 cup dry roasted almonds

3 garlic cloves

4 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cayenne

1/2 cup olive oil

pepper

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F

Wash and dry the peppers. Then cut them in fourths, removing the seeds and ribs. Add them to a large baking sheet, cover with the oil and add a pinch of salt. Toss to evenly coat and then spread the peppers out across the baking sheet giving them space to breath and put the skin side down. Do not crowd the pan.

Then roast in the oven for 15-25 minutes, until the skins get brown and start to bubble. Then take out and let cool. You can speed the cooling process by adding to the fridge or freeze. Once cool to the touch. start to peel off the skins. See picture below.

Then in the bowl of a large food process add the peppers, almonds, garlic, apple cider vinegar, smoked paprika and cayenne. Pulse until a crumbly mixture starts to form. It will like like a thick crunchy paste.

Then with the processor on low, add in the oil. Then season with salt and black pepper to taste. Adjust any seasonings as desired, or add more oil if you want it more like a sauce than a dip.

LET THE FEAR BE THERE AND DO IT ANYWAY! BEING ON KTLA TO TALK VEGAN BUDDHA BOWLS

This day was a whirlwind.

I had the amazing opportunity to go on KTLA, Los Angeles local news station to talk about healing my relationship with food and my cookbook, Vegan Buddha Bowls.

Not gunna lie, I was so scared, like hadn't slept well in a week, SCARED.

When I was first told that KTLA was interested in having me on, I almost didn’t do it..., this was SO FAR outside my comfort zone and that “dooms day” voice in my head got loud, telling me all the reasons why I shouldn’t, why it would be a disaster, why I’d fail.

Thankfully, my friends were there to support me, cheer for me and tell me I could do it. Truly, without them I wouldn’t have even wrote the cookbook, I was scared to do that, too!

So moral of the story, just because you are afraid, scared, or terrified, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it or can’t do it (whatever it is: asking for the raise, leaving that relationship, choosing recovery or starting that biz) it just means you might have to do the damn thing afraid.

And that’s ok.

Let the fear be there and do it anyways.

Thank you to everyone at KTLA, Ashely the producer, Beryl the food stylist, Mark & Lynette the anchors, Aimee the PR Gal, the team at Page Street Publishing and my friends Josie, Ashley and Brent.

Very grateful and moved by this thing called my life❤️

xo C

PS you can purchase the cookbook here:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Indiebound

Books-a-Million

Book Depository