The cashew “cheese” sauce that I wrote about before makes an enormous batch. Honestly, it takes exactly like an alfredo sauce, but is much easier to make and much better for you. I had a big tub left in my fridge that needed to be used up and I decided to serve it over some spaghetti noodles with some fresh basil. As I had suspected, it becomes more saucy with the addition of some of your pasta cooking water, so be sure to save about a cup of it to pour over the noodles when you mix your sauce in.

On the side, we had a nice salad made of organic red leaf lettuce, organic pears, and organic golden beets. I picked up some beets the last time I was at Sigona’s and they had been sitting in my fridge for nearly a week waiting to get used. I don’t cook beets often and I wanted to do something more creative with them other than boiling them and putting them on a salad. Well, that didn’t happen this time, but I’ll keep an eye out for a recipe involving beets that doesn’t involve salad.

So the salad was really simple. A bed of leaf lettuce, some pears, the beets, and some toasted walnuts, pine nuts and pistachios, topped with my favorite vinaigrette:

Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

1 heaping tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp agave nectar

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Olive oil to taste

S&P to taste

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, agave nectar, balsamic vinegar and S&P. Whisk in enough olive oil to suit your taste. I prefer my vinaigrette dressings to be heavier on the vinegar and lighter on the olive oil, but feel free to adjust the quantities to your preferences.

Tonight we had the famed lentil tacos for dinner. These are so, so good. If anyone is reading this, please trust me when I tell you that you have to try them, but just be sure to add between 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water, and an extra teaspoon or 2 of chili powder.

Ours were topped with some mock-amole. That is, chopped avocado, chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro, lime juice and S&P. Not exactly guacamole, but the same gist. I am so excited that the weather is warming up and that our produce is looking (and tasting) good. This was the most delicious avocado I’ve had in a while. Ditto on the tomatoes- they were pretty good for not being in season yet.

To go with our tacos, I made a quick little salad with the rest of the avocado and some pistachios on top. I was too full after eating my tacos to eat my salad, so I will have to enjoy it tomorrow.