You had me at sticky spiced cashews

I made this recipe knowing basically nobody would like it.

But Kyle was out of town and I already had leftovers for the kids so I just figured I’d make this for me.

This recipe comes from Anna Jones’ A Modern Way to Cook gifted to me by my sisters a coupe of years ago.  I’m sure I’ve talked about it before on the blog, because I’ve made several recipes from it.

It’s a vegetarian cookbook and has so many unique and delicious dishes that I’d never come up with on my own. Like cauli rice with sticky spiced cashews!

I was a little nervous about finding black mustard seeds, but it was no problem at all.  First time using them (slash first time I’d ever even heard of them)!

Full disclosure, this meal is full of FODMAPS.  But if you recall my previous post, I was already feeling in the dumps so I just figured whatever.  No point in trying to work around my body when the “safe” things I was eating were upsetting it too.  BLAH.

Also, CASHEWS!!!

It made an extra portion, naturally, because I was the only one eating it.

I really love this cookbook.

And since I’m already discussing it…

Another recipe I made from her cookbook recently was zucchini noodles with pistachio pesto and roasted sheep ricotta.

I failed at taking very many pics because I was trying to package it all up to bring to a new mom.  I doubled the pesto recipe so we’d have enough too, and then added regular noodles, chicken, and white beans to hers.  Breast feeding (and mom-ing two children) is the biggest calorie burn ever so I wanted to be sure she had plenty of food and also options for the rest of her family.  I also included some of my home-brew because I know she likes kombucha.  🙂

Unsure of what her older toddler likes I just packed everything up separately – one gallon bag of spaghetti, one gallon bag of spiralized zucchini noodles, a side of beans, a side of sliced (pounded thin and then sautéed) chicken breasts, and a jar of pesto.  All for her to assemble and dig in!

I made the pesto the night before, picking the basil from our garden by iPhone light.  The lemon was from our tree too.

Anna Jones’ technique for making the zoodles was the best I’ve tried yet!  They aren’t raw, but they aren’t sauteed into a goopy mess either.  Rather, you submerge them in a bowl of boiling water while you do the rest of the prep and then by the time you serve them they are softened to perfection.  I love it!  I will be doing it this way forevermore.

Have you ever had roasted ricotta?  Wow is it something else.

First you top it with grated lemon zest, honey, and red chili flakes and then you let it caramelize into cheesy glory.

It adds just a little something extra to the pistachio pesto (which is soooo good on it’s own).  Mmm…

I can’t wait for zucchini season.  I gotta get our seeds planted!  Having too much zucchini is my favorite “problem” of July and August.

Spiralize it all I say!