summertime rerun

i love summer for so many reasons: gardening, no jackets required, iced tea, reruns on tv, and PESTO!
this beauty of a pie is a veganized black bean and cilantro pesto pizza from aver's. that pizza joint is super innovative, unfortunately the majority of creativity is sourced from animals. one would think that might make me a little sad, until i use my vegan superpowers. (((((pow!))))

i pulled this recipe from the PITA vegan archives, yay! but i've changed it up a bit so the sauce has more punch. i hope you like the revision! pictured above is the pesto on flatbread with seasoned black beans and some daiya cheese. truth be told, the pizza is just fine without any vegan cheese at all!

jewy's cilantro pesto-(goes well with just about everything)

1.5 c. chopped cilantro
2T chopped pickled jalapenos-(fresh would be fine too, but i'm just a fan of the pickled)
1/3 c. nutritional yeast
2T olive oil
juice of a lime
2T finely chopped onion
1 small clove of garlic-(listen up you garly hound, don't overdo it. you want the cilantro to front this rock band of flavors)
1/2 t. salt, or more to taste
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 c. nuts of your choice. different nuts=different flavors. ((((giggling)))) i said "nuts."
1/4 c. water
couple of pinches of cumin
1/4 t. liquid smoke

optional:
2T of any of the following for a creamier pesto: plain non-dairy vegan creamer-(if you have mimi creme, this IS the place to use this, 2 T non dairy milk, or 1 heaping T of silken tofu.

put it all together and blend it until smooth, scraping the sides of the blender. If this is too thick, you can thin it with more water, olive oil, or soy creamer/milk.

you know what else is awesome about summer? CONTESTS! don't forget you have until the witching hour tonight EST to enter my giveaway of American Vegan Kitchen by Tamasin Noyes. so far i have only 17 entries! contest details are here.