Eat To Live

Here is a picture of tonights dinner above. Isn't it just gorgeous How the red 'pops' off the green? That would be the graphic designer in me talking. The dish you are looking at is Basil Pesto 'Pasta.'
Look closer. That's not the traditional pasta you are looking at. You are looking at thinly shredded fresh zucchini coated in a basil pesto sauce and topped in fresh chopped tomatoes tossed with some seasoned rice vinegar (my favorite!). And yes, it's all RAW. And deelish!
Anyone who knows me knows I love food. Chicken, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw. If it tastes good, I'll eat it. I'll try just about anything once (as long as it's not bugs or strange creatures, yecch!). If I don't like it, I never have to eat it again, is my motto. I was a vegetarian for about 5 years, and it was great, I felt healthy, and good, but I just couldn't bear the thought of phasing out a whole food group altogether. As long as good food exists, I can't phase out a whole segment of food just as a general policy.
Now, that being said, a good portion of my family's diet is still vegetarian. The husband is still staunchly vegetarian, which leaves me either cooking vegetarian, or cooking two meals for dinner. Since I don't want to spend my whole day in the kitchen, I usually cook what everyone can eat, most of the time.
I went to the farmer's market yesterday and stopped by the Raw Passion Bistro and they served this dish. As I always do whenever I sample a great dish, I did the copycat at home, and the results are above, right. I think I pretty much got it dead on...after all, there's no cooking involved. Bon Appetit! The dish is tasted even better since I got my ingredients from the farmer's market.
Oh, and the cooked pasta dish on the right is what the kids ate, since I know they won't eat the food (except for the oldest, she leans vegetarian.) I used Gimme Lean Sausage style in this, but I used real mozzarella and Colby-Jack cheeses. It was all good.