storytime! ... & roasted tomato [vegan] pesto barley

Long story short: On Friday I picked up my sweet friend Hannah from oral surgery. Guess which one of us fainted onto the floor of the doctor's office. Hint: It wasn't Hannah.

Long story longer: Once upon a time (last Friday morning at 6:30am), Hannah needed a drop-off and pick-up from oral surgery. I was free (not surprising) and willing (maybe more surprising), so the journey began. Things were running smoothly with her mouth (weird sentence?) while I was sipping tea at Starbucks down the street, waiting patiently. Two hours later, I got a call from the dentist's receptionist saying that the slightly groggy Hannah was ready to go. 

The nurse led me back to Hannah's room while I was hoping to create the next David After the Dentist YouTube sensation with my phone. But Hannah was doing great! A nurse rolled up a wheelchair (for Hannah), and that's about when my vision started to go. And boy, did it go. I reached for the wheelchair, mumbled something about feeling dizzy, and then it all went black.

I woke up—back flat on the floor—straddled by the hygienist—Hannah laughing nearby—and at least six doctors and nurses hovering above me in a panic. Finally one of them shouts, "It's not the patient—it's the driver!" and says she wants to get her camera. Which pretty much sums up the whole experience.

Within seconds I felt fine (sorry for being an attention hog, Hannah). However, the office still "didn't feel good about me driving." So shout out to Hannah's co-worker who saved the day with an emergency pick-up. 

You can be jealous of the bond that Hannah and I now have. But I am kind of upset we didn't get that picture the nurses kept yacking about. 

No clue what that whole fainting thing was all about. Except for the minor connection that the last time I fainted was in a dentist's chair, when the dentist accidentally sliced into my tongue with his drill. Like I said, minor.

Everyone thought it was due to a lack of nutrition. Oh please. This girl can eat.

And eat I did over the weekend:

—roasted tomato vegan almond pesto barley—

Am I vegan? No. 

Did I run out of Parmesan cheese? Yes.

Have I fainted since eating this delicious and nutritious meal? I feel stronger than ever.

Easy deductive reasoning equation: this pesto = no fainting

I loosely used Oh She Glow's recipe. Everything in the kitchen tends to be loose with me. But just in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rinsed barley
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup diced white onion
• 4 large roma tomatoes (I actually only used two, and added some cherry tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup almonds, toasted
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 2 Tbls. lemon juice
• 3/4 cup basil
• 1/2 cup spinach 
• scant 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Start the barley first because it takes its sweeeeeet time. Combine barley, broth, water and onion. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer for at least half an hour, but continue to check it until the barley is softened and liquid is absorbed. 

Meanwhile, pan-fry the tomatoes with a little salt and pepper. 

Toss the tomatoes, almonds, garlic, basil, spinach, EVOO, and nutritional yeast into my favorite kitchen appliance, and pulse until you achieve the creamy pesto consistency you want.

Devour by the spoonful. Combine with cooked barley.

If a picture's worth 1,000 words (and these pictures are more like only half that), then a taste is worth 1,000,000.