I’ve been a pretty serious fan of the Golubka blog for a while. Their raw food creations always hit me with an immediate appeal to taste, and then slowly as I read, they would surprise me with their intricacy. Their style of cuisine spoke to me with its naturally healthy virtues and they managed to make it look so ethereally beautiful as well.
So when they sent me their book and I saw that it was a fully realized, but also expanded-upon, version of the creative work that they share on the site, I was immediately inspired. When a book or an entity of any kind makes your mind tick with possibility–for your health, your family table and your whole life–it’s a good one. Also, there’s a lot to be said about a cookbook that can convey a sense of time and place in the world–a trait I find most appealing in any food related publication actually.
Almost all of the recipes are vegan and a nice selection of them are raw–all gluten free and seasonal in theme as well. When the really balmy hot days start to take over here, this is the kind of inspiration I crave most. Abundant, colourful, and satisfying for these days that we spend predominantly outdoors
I was debating between making this zucchini spaghetti dish or the berry and chocolate crisp for today. Mark really wanted the dessert, but I wanted a light summer dinner on our porch at dusk (and apparently Shanna and Tim did too!). (I’m confident that the crisp will be happening next week, what with the impending glut of berries coming on). I use a julienne peeler for this, but a spiralizer would be awesome too for making the delicious vegetable “spaghetti.” This will be the first of many from Anya’s table to ours. Some other bits that look so, so good: kale + mustard muffins, cacao buckwheat granola, fava bean quinoa cakes, fig bars, and spinach quinoa crepes. You can get a copy here, and I really think you should.
Hope you’re enjoying that sunshine, and maybe a few magical summer storms too :)
Zucchini Spaghetti with Pumpkin Seed Pesto & Peaches
Ingredients
Pesto
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- splash of water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, peeled & crushed
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Zucchini Spaghetti & Assembly
- 4-5 medium zucchini
- 2 peaches
- handful of chopped basil
Equipment
Notes
- From The Vibrant Table: Recipes from My Always Vegetarian, Mostly Vegan & Sometimes Raw Kitchen
- I toasted the pumpkin seeds with a bit of salt before grinding them into the pesto, but if you prefer to keep this raw, just skip that step.
- I use a julienne peeler for the zucchini, but if you have a spiralizer, you can probably get away with 3 zucchinis since it better utilizes the seedier inner part of the vegetable.
Instructions
- Place the toasted pumpkin seeds in the bowl of a food processor with the “S” bade in place. Pulse the seeds until they are the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. From here, add the basil, olive oil, water, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Turn the food processor onto high until you have a smooth paste. Set the pesto aside.
- With a julienne peeler, make long lengthwise strands of zucchini, avoiding peeling the centers if they’re a bit seedy. Place zucchini “spaghetti” in a large bowl and toss with a heavy pinch of salt. Let the zucchini sit for about 5 minutes so that the salt can soften the noodles ever so slightly. Pit and slice your peaches while you wait.
- Toss the zucchini spaghetti with most of the pesto until strands are evenly coated. Arrange the peaches on top and tear pieces of basil to finish it off. Garnish with some extra bits of pesto if you like. Serve immediately.
My favorite summer fruit, by far, is watermelon. I love to eat it cubed with just a little sprinkle of salt with breakfast in the morning or as a mid-afternoon snack.
My grandfather taught me how to salt watermelon. We used to eat it on an old picnic table at his house in Kentucky, right by his small garden where he grew tomatoes, watermelon, and a few other summer crops!
1. Something seasonal you plan to cross off your list this summer (mine: have a beach picnic, paint my porch, come up with a high-vibe campfire recipe that doesn’t involve beans or oats). — build a mega sand castle
2. Your favourite summer fruit or vegetable and your go-to way to eat it (mine: tomatoes on toasted sourdough with salt, preferably on the steps of my porch as my mid-morning meal, aka second breakfast) — figs… from branch to mouth, warm and slightly gooey from the sun (like me) :)
I love fresh tomatoes, cut up and sprinkled with a (generous) bit of sea salt. So good!
I’d love to check out a new swimming hole south of Austin!
My favorite is heirloom tomatoes! I live for the moment they start appearing in the farmers’ markets. I like to eat them raw on crusty brown bread crostini with homemade ricotta and a splash of balsamic vinegar.
I’ve been dreaming of this book before it hit the shelves, and have been collecting the recipes from other bloggers like yourself, ever since. It’s ironic that I am so fond of The First Mess in all the exact same ways that you love Anya. Likewise, you recreated her recipe beautifully. And what a recipe it is! I do love zucchini in the summer, but my favorite would have to be a fat and sloppy Texas peach, eaten hot and sultry in the sun. And as for my summer adventures, I am hoping to finally catch one of these gnarly storms that have been ripping through town, and chase lightning! It was my childhood dream, and now, my summer reality.
Thanks Laura!
I’m planning to do some hiking this summer. Hopefully near the beach!
YUM. I can’t wait to make this! My it’s-really-summer food is watermelon. My go-to way to eat it is in a HUGE slice on a plate. Sometimes it doesn’t make it that far though, and I crack it open and just dig the spoon in! :)
I can’t live without watermelon!
I love using raw zucchini in every possible way !! Thanks for sharing this wonderful dish and lovely vibrant pictures !!
Looks yummy! One summery thing I’d love to cross off my list this summer would be to go camping or go on a nice picnic. My favourite summer fruit would probably be nectarines and I eat them with any kind of cheese and maybe honey.
How do I even choose??? Corn, zucchini, tomatoes, and peaches top the list. A fave corn prep: saute diced zucchini and red pepper in a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper; add one ear’s worth of corn fresh from the cob; saute for 1-2 mins, just enough to warm. Butter on top to get all melty, a bit more sea salt and pepper, and spoon into my face. :)
My favorite summer food is corn, cooked on the grill. I also like to make pickles!
S’mores on our newly-completed patio!
Oh Summer how I love thee! Two things that scream summer are Strawberries and Cukes!! I absolutely love both yours and Anya’s blogs. Definitely get so much summer inspiration from them! Thank you!
My favorite summer food are nectarines. I love to eat them with plain Greek yogurt, raw steel cut oats, and hemp hearts.
My summer list includes: perfecting pasta from scratch without a machine – just simple hand cut shapes and purchasing a tiny chest freezer that will fit down my tiny basement stairs built in 1903 – to fill for the long winter months.
My favorite summer goods: sun ripe tomato, fresh torn basil, avocado, olive oil salad.
So simple so satisfying.
Happy summer to you.
I can’t wait to climb to the top of an 11,000 foot peak in the Rockies and see nothing but mountain upon mountains from the top. As far from a city as possible.
I am living cherries in everything from salads to raw porridge right now. New fave, cherry mole sauce!
1. I want to host an outdoor brunch by the pond at my house. Everyone would wear pajamas and sit on quilts while eating elegant pastries and such. :)
I’m loving summer squashes at the moment, and I have to admit my favourite way to eat them is spirilaized with pesto, just like your amazing dish here! So, in the interest of being original, I’ll share something seasonal I’m planning to do this summer. I’m going to gather together all of my friends with little ones, and head to the PYO blueberry farm and pick a years worth of berries for our freezers. Also make flower-crowns in the field next door and adorn all of our babies with petal-head dresses : ) And I don’t live in the US or Canada, so this was just for fun! Though I’d happily donate the beautiful book to some friends in Canada if I were to win! Hehe. Beautiful pics as always Laura. Happy summer, I’m totally with you an all of your plans and summery snacks! xx
My favorite summer vegetable is summer squash. I love it grilled on a charcoal grill with a olive oil-balsamic coating on it and eating it on my deck with the scenery of the trees in my backyard. It is such a treat.
seasonal activity which must be crossed off the to-do list: a weekend camping getaway with friends complete with evening bonfires and midnight swims!
My favourite summer food: watermelon popsicles!
Summer food is a toss up between a simple cucumber+tomato salad with lots of s&p plus a hit of vinegar or eating a whole melon (doesn’t matter which) for breakfast! I DEVOURED the first cantaloupe I got my hands on this season. So good!
This recipe looks delicious!
Caprese salad made with tomatoes still warm from the garden…this year I planted Brandywine, Russian Black and Berkeley Pink Tie-dye. Sliced with locally made Vancouver Island buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil. Salt and cold-pressed olive oil.
Swimming in the ocean in the evening means it’s really summer…
My book club plans to have their next two meetings on the beach with some good food and wine.
Peaches and zucchini, great combination
Oh, what a simple and delicious looking dish! Can’t wait to make it myself. I’m looking forward to mint juleps on the porch with the abundance of mint taking over my flower beds. My fav summer fruits are all the berries and peaches, straight up and cobbler or crisp style:)
Beautiful recipe; I just so happened to buy a julienne peeler the other day! Living in the southern U.S., summer nights are balmy and breezy…for the next full moon I wanna strap on my roller skates with their rainbow laces and glow-in-the-dark stickers and soak up the night. The peaches we have down here are amazing (Georgia peaches!) and I loved blending them up and pouring them into Popsicle molds, topped off with some coconut cream. A sweet treat for a hot afternoon, sitting on the stoop in the sunshine.
On my summer to do list, was to plant a raised vegetable bed and to tend and harvest it with my two young girls. It is doing really well, and the giant cucumbers are coming up next for harvest. I’ve met a lot of great neighbours, who are enthusiastic about seeing food grown in suburbia.
Fresh berries (any kind) with a little cream are my favorite summer food.
My husband and I are hoping to have a day at the beach: crepes in the morning, chowder in the afternoon and plenty of walking up and down the beach in between!
Nothing will beat fresh local peaches for me! Plain and simple and soooo delicious.
This looks so lovely! My big summer project is starting my garden now that we OWN a house. I’ve always had a makeshift garden at my previous rentals but am so excited to go totally all in! I’ll be taking breaks with thick slices of heirloom tomatoes from the Farmer Market with a sprinkling of sea salt and some torn basil :)
This zucchini spaghetti sounds amazing! Peaches? What?? :) I have already accomplished my main summer goal — to go to the dog beach in Santa Cruz and spend a few hours watching all the dogs frolic in the waves! And my favorite summer food is, hands down, the tomato, sliced and with a pinch of salt. No need for anything more. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
As usual, beautiful presentation and photography!
Favorite summer produce: Has to be a tie between fresh-picked blueberries (on top of homemade granola) and basil from the garden (pesto, pesto, pesto).
Laura: Your counter tops turned out beautifully. You inspired us to use Helmsman spar urethane on our butcher block island from IKEA and we are so pleased with the results. Just curious – How many coats did you apply?
I plan to do some major summer hiking in the Rocky Mountains.
i plan on making some roasted tomatillo salsa from my CSA. LOVE that they are grown organically in Ontario and yet feel kind exotic
So yum! This summer I plan to restain the deck and go camping. My favorite summer food are Jersey tomatoes in any kind of salad!
My favorite summer fruit hands down – peaches. There is nothing better than biting into a ripe peach on a lazy summer afternoon outside. But, they are also very taste in peach crisps, peach cobbler and grilled over charcoal and drizzled with some maple syrup.
This summer, I plan to spot as many fireflies as possible…I didn’t see my first one until I was in my 20s, so I’m making up for lost time!!! They are nothing short of magic.
My favourite summer fruit is watermelon – cold, scooped,sliced, diced, cubed…in salads with olives and/or mint, on its own, or pureed in tasty beverages…it really doesn’t matter as long as I can shove heaping helpings of it into my face!
I’m looking forward to putting together seasonal dishes and cocktails for a housewarming party later this summer and I always love grilled peaches as a go-to summer fruit!
Whoaaa! I’ll be making this salad for sure!!! I’ve been loving the cherries this summer!! They are so juicy and full of flavor!!!
I’m hoping to take a road trip to see Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty this summer. Maybe I’ll pack some watermelon for my trip. It’s by far my favorite summer fruit. This zucchini spaghetti looks amazing. I can’t wait to make it!
I love fresh peaches with plain yogurt, granola, and mixed spice for breakfast on a summer morning.
i have been ALLLLL about the cucumber noodles lately, but it’s zucchini noodles that i have to try! and i love the look of this pumpkin pesto.
For my summer bucket list, I plan to cross off kayaking in the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington when the resident orca pods are in town
1. canoeing with friends!
2. watermelon!!!
What a gorgeous looking recipe! I especially love your photo of the Thai Basil flowers — when mine first sprouted this year, I couldn’t believe how lovely they looked!
One of my favourite summer dishes is strawberries tossed in a couple tablespoons of sugar and balsamic vinegar, then cooked until they become thick and jammy. Eaten on ice cream, of course!
I’m a big fan of Anya’s blog – as well as yours! One of my favorite summer memories is sitting in the garden patch as a kid, knees in the dirt, picking sun hot tomatoes off the vine with salt shaker in hand – bite, sprinkle, bite, sprinkle.