Today was full of firsts as I got to fly in a small private plane of a friend of mine, eat gluten free pasta, try vegan Parmesan cheese and even got to steer (is it called steering?) or control the plane for a bit, which was a little scary. But it was an incredible day, the sky was clear, the water was intensely blue and it was truly breathtaking to be above the world and take in the beauty. I swear you just feel exhilirated and alive from the moment you take off until the wheels touch back on the ground. I was definitely overwhelmed by the experience...and even got to see a pod of like 50 dolphins (aka. herd) from the sky, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience.



I promised myself several years ago to live my life to the fullest and to dive afraid. I have been trying every day to do that and today was one of those days. I have had a slight fear of planes, especially small ones, after I was in a plane that did an emergency landing several years back. But I wanted to go up in this plane and I wanted to feel alive, face my fear and conquer it and I am so thankful that I was given that opportunity.

So tonight I decided to play around with gluten free pasta and vegan Parmesan cheese, both of which have a learning curve. However, I have to say that overall I am pretty proud of myself. The scallops were cooked perfectly and were tender and sweet. The asparagus had a bit of a bite to it, the brown rice pasta was nutty and complimented the walnuts and vegan Parmesan in the pea pesto. This would be the perfect dish for detox entertaining.

#fail

Let's start with the gluten free pasta. There are several varietals and I tried the brown rice type. I have been told that corn tastes a lot like regular pasta, but that is on the "avoid" list so I had to stay away from that one. So a few things about brown rice pasta it clumps. My first attempt clumped and kind of broke apart....so I tried again.


The second batch, I stirred constantly, hoping to separate the spaghetti strands. It is also odd as the water gets very muddy looking, I assume from the material that holds the pasta together, but it was almost like pasta encased in glue by the time I drained it. I also cooked it for only 6 minutes, whereas the first batch I cooked for 8 minutes and that seemed to make a difference.


The recipe says to add 2 cups fresh asparagus to the cooking water during the last 3 minutes, however since my pasta cooking water looked like Elmers glue, I blanched the asparagus in a separate pan.


As for the scallops, heat a pan and 1T olive oil, sear the scallops for 2-3 minutes on each side, using tongs to flip. You can tell they are done as they get opaque and they brown, but do not over cook them as no one likes chewy scallops.


The pea pesto is also very easy. Once you take the scallops out of the pan, add 1/4 cup chicken broth and deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits from cooking the scallops.


Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Next add another 1/4 cup of broth and 1 cup frozen peas (thawed) and cook until heated through.



Add the pea mixture to a food processor and add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup walnuts, juice of 1/2 lemon and salt/pepper. Process until the mixture looks like pesto.



Here is the link to the recipe if you want to give it a try:
http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/20-minutes-or-less/seared-scallops-over-pea-pesto-linguini/