
Bryant Terry has a really beautiful collard-peanut pesto and zucchini recipe in his cookbook Vegetable Kingdom. I wanted to attempt it, but it's nearly impossible to find collards in Germany so I thought maybe I could replace them with savoy cabbage - another tough green that seems like a German supermarket staple.
I have to admit this recipe didn't quite work how I made it. The pesto came out kind of pasty and the chickpeas came out a bit dry and powdery. BUT I think this recipe provides a nice basis for improvements for the future. I suspect if I followed Bryant's recipe more to the letter this would have come out deliciously because the picture he has is so enticing.
This recipe left me craving the chickpeas from the cauliflower and spiced chickpeas from a few weeks back. And the zucchini left me wanting either a tahini-based herby dressing or a simpler roast with garlic, olive oil, oregano, and lemon.
Serves 2
1 cup savoy cabbage
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
4 tsp white miso paste
1 clove
2 lemons, juiced
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
black pepper
2 medium zucchinis, sliced on the diagonal
1/4 tsp salt
1 14oz can chickpeas
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
Preheat the oven to 450°F (210°C fan forced). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and lay the zucchini on it. Season it with salt and pepper to taste and place into the oven until it's tender all the way through.
On another baking tray, line it with parchment paper and place the drained chickpeas on it. Toss with the other chickpea ingredients to coat and place into the oven alongside the zucchini. Bake until crispy.
To make the cabbage sauce, place the remaining pesto zucchini ingredients together in a blender. Add water as you need until the blender can make a proper blended sauce.
Once the zucchini is tender, remove from the oven and toss with the cabbage pesto. Serve alongside the crispy chickpeas.
Every Sunday evening, I send out a newsletter with the following week's dinner menu, and the seasonal produce featured. The newsletter is free, and I won't share or sell your email address.
If it turns out it's not the content you're looking for, you can easily unsubscribe with a link at the bottom of the email. This project was originally a way to wrap my head around the evolving seasonal produce in the supermarkets.
I'm so excited to share the journey and learn from you as I go along!
- Julia Feld