Quick Fridge Dill Pickles
There are a ton of these recipes online, this one is adapted from www.acouplecooks.com
 
Makes 1 quart jar
 
½ lb of pickling cucumbers or 2 English cucumbers
3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
4-6 sprigs dill
1 tablespoon coriander seeds (or a few sprigs of coriander bunch)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
2/3 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
 
 
1. Wash a quart mason jar and lid and let air dry.
2. Quarter cucumbers lengthwise into spears.
3. In an extra jar or covered container, combine coriander, sugar, salt, and vinegar. Tightly close the lid and shake vigorously until the sugar and salt dissolve. Add water to mixture.
4. In the clean jar, tightly pack the sliced cucumbers, garlic and dill.
5. Pour the brine mixture over the cucumbers. Tap the jar on the counter to release any air bubbles and top off the jar with extra water if any cucumbers are exposed.
6. Place the lid on the jar and screw the ring until it’s tight. Leave the jar in the fridge for 24 hours before tasting. The pickles last up to one month refrigerated.  

Roasted Pesto Potatoes
Chef Liz Arraj
 
4 cups of small potatoes, clean and cut in half. Toss in olive oil add coarse sea salt and bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until done.
 
Pesto:
1 cup of fresh basil
1/4 cup walnuts or nut of your choice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
Water to adjust consistency
Salt and black pepper to taste
 
1. Put all ingredients into food processor and pulse, adding the olive oil at the end and blended until smooth.
2. Put roasted potatoes in large bowl and add pesto. Toss well and serve while still hot.
 

Tasty Tip:
One thing I really like about pesto is that it's very versatile. Traditionally, pesto is made from basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese. But making it plant based is super easy and tasty simply by adding nutritional yeast. Also, you don't have to use basil, you can use spinach, kale or other greens. And you can change the expensive pine nuts to walnuts or almonds.
                                                                                              

Blistered Shishito Peppers
Chef Liz Arraj

1 TBSP. olive oil or sesame oil
2 cups Shishito peppers
Flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1. Heat oil in a frying pan or cast iron pan. Cook peppers until they are blistered on all sides. Remove from pan and sprinkle with your choice of salt. Serve right away.
 

Tasty Tip:
Shishito Peppers are a small finger long pepper that turns from green to red. It is usually harvested while still green. Only 1 in 10 peppers are spicy. You can prepare them many ways, grilled, pan fried, stewed or eaten raw. The literal Japanese translation refers to the tip of the pepper that looks like the head of a lion, Shishi, often abbreviated in Japanese as Shishito.