Coriander Parsley Pesto

I bought a lot of fresh herbs at the market the other day and had to find a way to use it all before it goes bad. I wasn't convinced that the coriander+parsley combo would work as a pesto but I loved it. I used quite a lot of cheese in the recipe, which made the pesto a bit milder/creamier than traditional Italian pestos. Will make this one again for sure!

3 dl loosely packed coriander (chopped)
1 dl loosely packed parsley (chopped)
1 dl extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic
1 dl grated vegetarian cheese (I used a mixture of gouda and maasdammer)
2 tablespoons of pine nuts
6 whole hazelnuts
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and blend with a hand blender.
2. Put the pesto in the fridge overnight for the flavours to mix properly.
3. Enjoy.

Annika

Coconut Cashew Cream

This lovely coconut cashew cream is an adaptation of Amy Crawford's recipe (http://theholisticingredient.com/2013/09/16/coconut-cashew-chia-cream/), and went really well both with a chocolate cake and with a walnut-banana-chocolate chip cake made with gluten-free flour. There's such little flax seed meal in it that it does not really affect the colour of the cream; it's still nice and white.

150 grams of cashews
4 dl refrigerated coconut milk
2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds
3 tablespoons of honey
the seeds of one vanilla bean
a pinch of ground sea salt

1. Let the cashews soak in water for two hours, rinse and drain.
2. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and blend with a hand blender until smooth.
3. Place the mixture in the fridge for the night for it to get thick and creamy.
4. Serve cold with a cake of your choice.

Minty Chocolate Icing/Mousse

I made this minty, creamy chocolate icing for a chocolate cake but it would also work well on its own as a chocolate mousse. I went a bit crazy with the mint because you couldn't really taste it very well until the ingredients had had some time to set in the fridge. Oh, and I've got to say that the vanilla flavour was overpowered by the mint flavour, so you might want to omit the vanilla altogether - at least if you use as many as 4 sprigs of mint.

2 smallish avocados
2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
6 tablespoons of raw cocoa powder
5 tablespoons of honey (or to taste)
the leaves of 4 sprigs of mint (maybe half of that if you want a less intense flavour)
(the seeds of one vanilla bean)

1. Chop the mint leaves.
2. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours; this will allow the flavour of the mint to really seep into the icing.
4. Enjoy!

Annika