The Cascade Kitchen is a student-run food column that brings you budget-friendly recipes and cooking tips. If you want to see your own recipe featured next, get started by reaching out to culture@ufvcascade.ca.
Everybody needs to learn a couple different versatile sauce recipes that you can whip up at last minute’s notice or can stay in your fridge until the opportune time. This is one of those sauces. You can honestly use this sauce however you like — in a pasta, on a pizza, over some roasted vegetables — I slathered some over my avocado toast, and it was delicious.
Cook Time: 20 minutes. Serves: 2
Ingredients:
2 large tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup nuts or seeds (almonds, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds work perfectly)
1 tsp each: chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper
2 tsp paprika
2 garlic cloves
Small handful mint leaves
Small handful flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Method:
- To get that smoky flavour, put your tomatoes and bell pepper on a sheet pan and stick that right under your broiler on high heat, rotating every couple of minutes until the skins are blackened all around. Put your charred vegetables in a bowl and cover with a tea towel to let steam. Once the vegetables are cool enough to handle, peel their burnt skin off and transfer to a blender or food processor.
- With a splash of your olive oil, saute your breadcrumbs in a frying pan until they are fragrant and golden.
- Add the vegetables and toasted breadcrumbs with the rest of your ingredients in a blender, except for the remaining olive oil. Blend until smooth, then slowly pour in your olive oil (while the motor is still running) until well combined.
- Store your sauce in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to six days.
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
