A New Name - A New Day

After almost a year of being known as The Born Again Vegan blog, I have changed the name. 

Welcome to A New Day Vegan!  Sure, it's a corny play on words with my new last name but it's also a sign of more good things to come.  

Stay tuned!

The Days & CPG - Basil Pesto

As many people do at this time of the year, we have a bumper crop of basil in The New Day Garden.  I took my shears to it yesterday and gave it a good trimming and in return it gave us a meal!  Sitting on our sunny deck pulling leaves off of fragrant stalks of homegrown basil is my favorite way of "making dinner". 

Most pestos use some sort of cheese usually Romano or Parmesan so it's difficult to enjoy this dish in a restaurant.  CPG's recipe in The Vegan Table uses four simple ingredients: olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and lots and lots of basil!  I've found pine nuts to be ridiculously expensive so was thrilled to find a great big bag at Sam's Club this weekend for a decent price.

For dinner, I prepared this mung bean fettuccine.  This was perfect for a couple of reasons, 1) it's not a starchy pasta and 2) the noodles are wide enough to be the perfect vehicle for getting that delicious pesto into your face!  Dr. D. found it at Down to Earth but I'm sure your own health food store or Wegmans will carry it.

And here it is!  Basil Pesto from The Vegan Table!

• Ease of preparation - A (what could be easier than putting four ingredients in a food processor and pressing Start!)
• Availability of ingredients - A 
• Taste - A
• Appearance - A