Basil Salsa Verde

Many times I find a lovely mostly raw recipe in a 'regular' magazine. This is a quick and easy recipe found in First magazine by Aida Mollenkamp of The Food Network. This recipe is also found online.

Thanks to Aida Mollenkamp for this wonderful, flavorful recipe!

Here is the recipe as it appeared in the magazine:

I just grabbed a handful of basil and flat leaf parsley and chopped them up with 1/2 a shallot. I added 3 tablespoons of capers to a small bowl, and added about 3 tablespoons of my favorite olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon. I did not use the salt, as the capers have enough salt for my taste:) Just a few grinds of pepper, and the salsa verde was done! The capers are considered 'not raw' in this recipe, but I love them so much I often include them in small amounts. I thought of using raw olives next time for all, or part of the capers.Update: Here it is using olives:)

I can think of quite a few things I would like to try this simple recipe on, but for today, I made a quick lunch by topping some crisp crackers with juicy slices of tomato and the salsa verde. A tiny basil leaf and few pine nuts for garnish made these little canapés burst with flavor in my mouth! If you don't have crackers made, this makes a great topping for thick tomato slices. I also added a drizzle of balsamic before devouring them:)

The crackers were a variation of my rosemary crackers using Herbes de Provence in place of rosemary. The mini-breadstix were quite tasty dipped in the salsa too.


Crisp Herb Crackers
Ingredients:
2 cups almonds, soaked 8 hours, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup whole golden flax seed, ground after measure
1 cup fresh water
1/4 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence*
1/2- 1 teaspoon salt
Additional herbs for top of crackers, optional

1. In food processor fitted with "S" blade, process almonds until coarsely ground.

2. Add nutritional yeast, flax, herbs, and salt, and process until combined. Adjust seasonings as desired.

3. With machine running, pour in water to form dough. Let mixture stand a few minutes to thicken if it seems too wet

4. Divide mixture in half and roll out onto 2 teflex sheets, sprinkle with additional herbs if desired, and score into crackers. I also rolled some mini-breadstix:)

5. Dehydrate at 112 degrees for about 8 hours, flipping about halfway through. Drying time depends on thickness of crackers.

6. Store in glass jars for several weeks.

*Here is a recipe for the Herbes de Provence, but you can buy this already blended.

Herbes de Provence
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon chervil
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon summer savory
1 teaspoon lavender
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon mint
2 chopped bay leaves

Mix together all of the ingredients and store in a tightly sealed container.
Makes about 1/3 cup herb mix