0019 -- eating greek!

summer cooking is some of my favorite. i'm not sure if it's because the days are longer so i'm cooking (and usually eating) while it's still light out, or maybe it's because the produce selections are so lovely. either way we've been eating some really simple and really delicious food lately! i'm still on my crazy health kick, actually i don't think i should call it a kick since we don't think we'll ever go back to eating all the crazy calorie filled processed foods that we were once so tempted by.

one of our favorite ethnic foods lately has been greek. we cannot get enough of it! we used to be avid garden patch falafel buyers but recently when at the store we saw a "make your own" falafel balls. jordan of course was as giddy as a school boy so we tried it and man was it ever easy and so fun!
sadly i have no pictures of our actual process making them but i do have a photo of the outcome and the recipes! so enough chatter and enjoy!!

roasted garlic hummus:
2-15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1/3 cup tahini
1 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup water
3 T olive oil
1/4 t cumin
1/8 t black pepper
3/4 t salt
10 cloves roasted garlic (or 2 cloves fresh garlic)
combine ingredients in a food processor and plus until smooth. we add in our oil and water slowly as i find it help it mix better. this saves for about a week and half in an air tight container in the fridge! the thing we love about making our own hummus is you can really put anything you want into it, roasted garlic, sun dried tomato, peppers, cilantro, avocado...you get the idea!

tzatziki dip:
7 oz plain Greek yogurt
1/2 large English cucumber grated coarsely
1 tbsp minced fresh dill or mint
1 clove minced garlic
after cucumbers have been grated squeeze out as much extra water from them as possible. in a medium bowl add the rest of the ingredients to the cucumber. combine and stir. this will save for about a week in an air tight container in the fridge.
here's a photo of my falafel lettuce wrap complete with hummus, tzatziki, cucumber, avocado, and spinach!

0002 -- mango pesto

these days i don't tend to cook as much as i did, although still find myself constantly perusing tastespotting for some super yummy recipes. i should take a minute and plug tastespotting since it's got to be the most visually stunning foodie site i've ever been on. as well, they have the best search feature options, just type in what you craving (say ginger carrots) and every recipe related will pop up, brilliant!

in our house we love making our own sauces and dips. most store bought condiments these days have too much sugar, sodium, or preservatives for our liking and why not do it fresh! last week we were craving pasta something fierce but it was too warm for just our usual red sauce so we agreed on pesto.

we've made pesto a few times now and it's always so good and keeps so well! this time we decided to switch it up and do something a little sweeter and more refreshing than our basic pesto and added in mango. talk about a game changer!! i would have never expected it to be so good and so addictive and really so simple to make!

Mango Pesto (adapted from Love & Lemons)
1.5 packed cups of fresh basil
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup diced mango
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes (we used cayenne powder instead)
a good pinch of salt & pepper

we enjoyed it over veggie pasta, mozzarella balls, diced red onion, and some fresh avocado for dinner. it was so simple and took us maybe 15 minutes to throw it all together. since then we have used it as a dip for veggies and even just a spread on sandwiches!