I love putting together these stylish "Eat Treats" for guests, where it actually looks like I know what the hell I'm doing. Its all in the presentation.
As in this recipe I ran across at the amazing blog, What's Cookin' Good Looking, for Heirloom Tomato, Avocado, Zucchini Stacks, with a Tomato Almond Pesto…….colorful goodness!!!
heirloom tomato, avocado, zucchini stacks, with a tomato almond pesto
for the salad
3 organic "farm fresh" heirloom tomatoes
(preferably different colors – one small, medium, and large)
2 organic avocados
1 organic yellow zucchini 1 organic green zucchini a few pieces of romaine lettuce (though I like baby spinach)
about 10 organic basil leaves
1 organic shallot, sliced super thin
Pink Himalayan Salt (AVOID COMMON TABLE SALT!!!)
Organic Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (AVOID CANOLA OIL, its poison)
organic toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
for the tomato pesto
1/3 cup of organic pine nuts (though I prefer pistachios)
1/3 cup of organic almonds
a large handful of organic basil (great when straight from herb garden!!)
1 large clove of organic garlic
5 ripe organic plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil (AVOID CANOLA OIL, its poison!!!)
Pink Himalayan Salt (AVOID COMMON TABLE SALT!!!)
Organic Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Organic red pepper flakes
Directions, makes a couple of stacks…….
You can add in or switch up the vegetables here with any fresh vegetables that you find. This would be really great with grilled vegetables as well.
One thing we did not discuss is how delicious and impressive this tomato almond pesto is. I am obsessed with pesto, and this tomato pesto has been my favorite this summer.
I've been keeping it around for anytime I grill vegetables, or if I just want to give my salad a little something extra.
Start by making the pesto….
In a small pan, toast the almonds and the pine nuts (or pistachios) over medium heat, just for a couple of minutes until they become light brown.
Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool. Then, place the basil, garlic, and tomatoes into a food processor and pulse several times. Then add in the toasted nuts and pulse a couple of times until they are roughly chopped.
Add in the olive oil in a continuous stream until you have the consistency you like.
Then, prep and assemble the stacks…..
Slice the zucchini into rounds and place them in a bowl with some salt, and set aside. Prep the tomatoes and the avocado.
Slice the tomatoes into rounds and slice the avocado into thin slices (you can squeeze a little lemon juice over the avocado if you want to keep them from oxidizing / turning brown).
Then, have the rest of the ingredients nearby and get ready to stack. Start by smearing some of the tomato pesto on the bottom of the plate. Then, place the largest tomato slice on top. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Then layer the rest of the stacks like this: some basil, a few slices of avocado, zucchini, a smear of pesto, a piece of lettuce.
Do this 2-3 times, until you feel your stacks are tall enough. Then, top with the thinly sliced shallot, any other toppings of your want (toasted pumpkin seeds, nuts, etc) and season with some salt, pepper and olive oil.
If serving for someone, always looks cool to do an olive oil "drizzle" right as you set the plate in front of your guests, like I said "Style Points" 🙂
Easy Peezie!!!
recipe and photography credits to the What's Cookin Good Lookin Blogspot
~stay healthy~
click here or the photo below to see all my articles in "The Healthy Chef's Cookbook"
One Response
Delicious post. Thanks for sharing