The Spice of Life

This past Labor Day weekend we drove 14 hours to Chicago in order to attend the wedding of my husband's cousin. Three days after arriving, we drove 14 hours back to Atlanta.*

Before heading off to the wedding in the 'burbs, we were able to spend a day in Chicago with some of the extended family, and I came upon a realization of sorts. There are two kinds of people in this world: Those of us who seek novelty in what we eat, and those of us who want to eat pretty much the same thing every day, and are just fine with that, thank you very much.

I have nothing more to say on that subject, but suffice it to say that not eating at [insert name of ubiquitous chain restaurant at random] led to a fine meal of beer, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and potato pancakes. The German half of me was very satisfied.

All of this is just to segue into a description of what we had for dinner tonight. I have a ridiculous amount of basil I need to use up, and am sick to death of pesto. Pesto is good, but at this point in the summer, a little creativity is needed, a little novelty, if you will. So I decided to mix things up a bit, and came up with this creamy basil pasta salad which doesn't use cream, so is vegan to boot. (Ironically, a bee flew over my boiling pasta pot, fell in and died, so a living creature was unfortunately harmed during the creation of this dish. I am not sure if that de-veganified it – one for the philosophers, maybe.)

The cashews provide the creaminess, and jalapeño pepper adds a subtle kick.  Lemon and tomatoes provide an acidic contrast to the creamy, sweet basil. It was good, it was basilly, and it wasn't pesto. (Needless to say, I highly recommend leftover sweets from an Indian wedding for dessert. For if you've ever been to an Indian wedding, you know there are lots and lots of sweets that must be eaten, enough to last you at least a month after the event takes place.)


Creamy Lemon Basil Pasta Salad
For the basil sauce:
2 cups cashews (plus soaking water)
2 jalapeño peppers, roughly chopped (more, or less, to taste and depending on spiciness of the peppers)
1 cup firmly packed basil leaves
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (plus extra to taste)
juice of one lemon

For the rest:
One pound package fusilli noodles
Two tomatoes, chopped and salted
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1/2 cup cooked fresh corn, salted
Handful of basil leaves, cut in chiffonade (that means rolled up together and cut into thin strips)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Lemon wedges

Soak the cashews in water to cover by a couple of inches for approximately five hours. Drain the cashews and place them in a blender or food processor, along with the jalapeños, basil, garlic, salt, and water. Blend until creamy and smooth, adding more water if necessary to reach the desired consistency. Stir in the juice of one lemon, and adjust salt to taste.

Meanwhile, boil a pound of fusilli pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain pasta, and return to pot.
Toss with enough basil sauce to make a rich, creamy mass of pasta. (I used about half of the sauce. You can freeze the rest or use it as a vegetable dip, or a sandwich spread, or make more pasta the next day. Or halve the recipe.)

Add the tomatoes, shallot, corn, basil, and black pepper to the pasta. Mix everything gently to combine. Add salt if necessary. Serve with lemon wedges to be squeezed over each individual serving. (Don't skip this: It adds a very refreshing lemoniness that you don't want to miss in combination with the basil.)

*Yes, this was insane, but cheaper than flying. And when all's said and done, I still prefer a 14-hour drive to a two-and-a-half hour flight, which is really longer than two-and-a-half hours anyway, when you factor in all the other nonsense you have to deal with. Driving allowed us to not only eat in Chicago, but in Louisville (with friends visiting from Seattle!), West Lafayette (Indiana, just off-campus from Purdue), and Chattanooga. We did the whole thing no fast food, strictly independent restaurants, though I was pretty bummed that the incongruously named 'XXX' Family Restaurant was closed for the holiday. I make fast food exceptions for restaurants more than 80 years old. Conversely, flying allows you to eat on an airplane. Blech. No thanks.