Quite another milestone! June 14th was my 6th Blogiversary. Every year I am so grateful and surprised to see how my passion for food and desire to share my discoveries only gets stronger and stronger. I am so proud to be part of this great community of friends and food lovers. And I enjoy discovering what others are concocting in their kitchen just as much…it is an endless source of inspiration. You are all amazing. And thank you for every visit to my blog and all the amazing comments you leave.
This year the celebration will be low key. No elaborate dish, no giveaway, no major fanfare. I have been fighting a bronchitis (again) for the past 2 weeks so I have not spent a lot of time in the kitchen. But what I would like to share with you is something possibly new to you. After all I think that is what I do best: try to get people to step outside of their safe food box.
I have taken you all on many ethnic and adventurous epicurean journeys, serving up recipes that are unusual like the Butsi with Ube Halaya, a Filipino sesame ball made with a purple yam filling ; my weird beverages such as the Spruce Liqueur; my ventures in cured meats such as my homemade Duck Prosciutto; my exploration of the rarer fruits and vegetables such as the Salsify or Dragon fruit, my large selection off unexpected ice creams such as the Lavender ice cream; all my homemade cheeses; my odd combinations of food like the Strawberry Avocado Salsa; my recipe with ingredients you would never think of cooking with like my Aloe Candy; and even beauty recipes such as the Henna paste recipe.
So what new concept do I have to offer you today? How about a look at the raw food diet with a raw Pesto Spaghetti. The idea is that you can only truly benefit from the nutritional value of foods when they are not cooked or processed. Some heating is permitted as long as the food remains below 115 degrees F, an example is dehydration. We would assume that only vegans can be true raw food followers but that is not the case. You can be a raw food carnivore with sashimi, ceviche, tartars and raw dairy products. But the base of this this diet mostly consist of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. The raw food diet is also big on fermentation such as sprouting seeds and whole grains. So that is the raw food diet in a nut shell…pun intended!
I eat everything: I am not a vegetarian or vegan, nor do I have any food intolerance. So I am not here to push a diet on you. But I have to admit I am curious about preparing a healthy balanced raw meal that will not leave me feeling hungry. I was convinced I would need a steak on the side after. But you know what, after eating 2/3 of my salad I has so full and satisfied. I could not eat another bite and I was not hungry later on the the evening. This experiment was a success…to be repeated!
I do not have permission to reprint the exact Pesto Spaghetti recipe so I recommend you get your hands on the fabulous Raw Essence cookbook which is published by www.robertrose.ca. I will give you a brief description however of each component. You will truly be amazed by the recipes in this cookbook. One of my favorites is the ‘cheese’ cake. If you did not know any better you would swear it is a real decadent cheesecake. I’ll talk more about this book soon as I tried my hand at making Kombucha from scratch. But for now here is the gist of the raw Pesto Spaghetti…
Marinated Mushrooms
mushrooms, olive oil, salt and pepper marinated for a short while and drained
Pistachio Basil Pesto
pistachio and cashew nuts ground in a food processor with basil, garlic, olive oil and salt
Crumesan
a raw Parmesan made of ground Brazil nuts, garlic, salt and pepper
Pesto Spaghetti
mandolined apple and zucchini tossed with the pesto, lemon juice and olive oil. Bed of spinach and sprinkle with mushrooms and Crumesan
This recipe looks amazing! It is something I must try! 🙂
Congratulations. Love your recipes.
Congrats! You truly have an amazing blog. Wishing you many more happy years of food blogging. The blogiversary post is wonderful and love all the flavours that you have added to the spaghetti.
Six years! That, my dear, is dedication. Here’s to six more! I hope you are feeling better … I have done a raw yellow squash sort of spaghetti thing, and it really is surprising how filling it is. I like this pesto variation, and will have to try it. xxxxx
Thank you so much Trix! Oh curious about raw yellow squash dish!
Congratulations Evelyn on your 6th blog anniversary, always amazing your readers with your beyond unique posts. Thanks for sharing all your ethnic expertise. I love this raw concept of pesto. Amazing!
Thank you Renata for you comment 🙂
Whoa… 6 years! That’s a huge milestone, Evelyne!! I’m very excited for you! You seem to have more and more recipes (and unique challenge) for us to read and we enjoy them very much. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much Nami 🙂
6 years…wow! Happy blog anniversary Evelyne! You are so good at what you do and your recipes are amazing. Just like this one. I love pesto and this dish looks spectacular. Wish you many more years of blogging and wonderful recipes for us:-) Do get well soon!
Ah thanks for the lovely comment and compliments. Glad to have found you too.
Happy 6th anniversary Evelyn!
Thank you for sharing a great recipe on this special occasion.
Hope you get well soon 🙂
Thank you Daniela, getting better every day!
Happy anniversary!!! Six years of blogging is quite a milestone, but I love the recipe chosen to mark this celebration… you can’t go wrong with spaghetti and pesto!
~Andrés
Thank you Andrés
Great recipe selection, Ev,; it really does look amazing. Happy Bloggaversary! Keep up the great work. You’ve been so successful with this blog you should be really proud of it and the love your fans show you! If there was such a thing as food blogger celebrity status, you’d have it! Congrats, my Syster.
Thank you my Syster, I love you so much and thanks for all the support…you get to taste the stuff sometimes lol.
Happy A-Day! I hope you feel better very soon–the nutrients of this dish can’t hurt! love it =)
Thank you so much my friend
I just pinned this recipe, it looks amazing, something new for me to test out!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Thanks Nat, nope you make it.
Yikes, need to watch my spelling :/
Oh, my gosh, this sounds fantastic!!! Love the shake up with the nuts in the pesto…and the alternate “noodles.” I could make a meal out of it, too. Totally delish. HAPPY ANNIVESARY, my friend. 6 years???? You rock!
Thank you so much Liz, would hubby eat it lol ?
Happy 6th Evelyne! It is amazing how many things we have learned from food blogging! This spaghetti is right up my alley!
Thanks Katerina, glad you like the recipe 🙂
G’day and Happy Anniversary, TRUE!
What a GREAT mile stone to celebrate too!
Hope you feel better soon!
Love your combination and could go for some of this now too!
Cheers! Joanne
Thank you so much Joanne
Happy 6th blogiversary and many more to come! I also wish you a quick recovery, colds are a nasty business, but hot tea and good food go a long way!
Thanks Gourmantine, I am actually drinking some mullein which is good for the lungs.
Happy 6th Blogiversary, Ev! You wqere a year old when I was born lol I’m so glad we met and hope to meet for real some day. I’ve always loved your blog and been in awe of your creativity and uniqueness. Although I’m not that into raw foods outside of fresh fruit and veggies, everything looks awesome…especially the pistachio/basil pesto and marinated mushrooms. I’d be all over both! Here’s to 6 more and MORE years of your amazing blog, my friend! xo
Thank you so my my dear friend Lisa. YES we will meet one day for sure. Thanks for all your great words.
Congrats on the 6th anniversary, Evelyne!
The zucchini spaghetti looks so fresh and delicious!
Thank you Angie!
Happy birthday to you blog, Evelyne!Hope you are feeling better!That dish looks healthy and delicious!
Thank you Erica. yes a bit better today. glad you like the dish.
A very big blog anniversary Eve!! And may there be many more! This looks scrumptious! 😀
Thank you so much Lorraine!
Congratulations. Its said that 1 human year equals 7 dog years. What about blog years?
I had raw food yesterday – half a grapefruit, uncooked, also ice cream…:)
Thank you my dear. ha ha that is funny about the blog years, excellent question hi hi. Cool about you having raw food recently.
Congrats on your sixth blogging anniversary! You always post such interesting and original recipes. My hat is off to you for your cheese making skills!
This sounds like a healthy and delicious to make. Looks like I will add another cookbook to my collection.
Thank you Liliana, more cheese to come soon 🙂
What a journey it’s been – a huge congrats on 6 years!! I always love the new dishes I get to vicariously explore on your blog. This salad looks really flavorful and definitely satisfying! When I first looked at those mushrooms I really thought they were sauteed instead of marinated – I can see how this meal would truly satisfy!
Thank you Faith! I had the same reaction thinking the mushrooms looks sauteed lol.
Congrats on six years. I am a meat and everything eater, but I enjoy vegetables more than most people. This would be a dish I would adore. I know it, and I do wish more people incorporate these kinds of foods into their diet. I am not a food buzz kill person that talks about what they DON’T eat and neither are you, Evelyne. We just like to share more of the variety of foods we do eat. Isn’t blogging lovely? Happy six!
Thanks for the congrats Angela and glad you seen it the same way: chin chin to variety 🙂
Hi Evelyne,
Congrats on the 6th anniversary — what a milestone! I hope you feel better soon:(
I’m going to check out the cookbook because it sounds great and I’m always up to try something new. Your raw spaghetti looks so good! I have to give it a try.
Thank you Nancy. I know you would love the book. It is actually from a restaurant in Montreal.