by Alexa Cheung
Toronto, ON

It’s finally summer! The balmy weather and warm sunshine usually means you’ll find me at new restaurants on the weekends, trying exotic cuisines and exciting flavours. Sadly, quarantine means I’m stuck at home, with only my food processor to keep my company. So I guess it’s time for some culinary experimentation! To help make quarantine dinners a little more interesting, here are some of my favourite sauces and dips adapted to suit my modest downtown kitchen and limited fridge space. All of these recipes can be tweaked to your liking, so keep tasting until you find what you like! (I’d like to apologize in advance to all the chefs in the world, for desecrating their traditional methods and ingredients. I will now bow my head in shame.)

NOTE:

This Argentinian sauce is traditionally made by finely chopping all the ingredients, and infusing its flavours into olive oil, but blending it in a food processor or a blender makes the process much, much faster. Do as you please!

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch fresh parsley, stems included 
1 cup olive oil
1/4 onion, whatever type you have in the fridge
4 cloves of garlic OR however much you like
1/4 cup fresh OR bottled lemon juice (we don’t judge)

OPTIONAL: 1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems included
OPTIONAL: Fresh chilis to taste OR Chinese style Laoganma chili oil OR sriracha OR any type of red chili oil/paste you have
Salt and black pepper to taste!
Garnish: red chili flakes and fresh parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Crush garlic, roughly chop
2. Roughly chop onion
3. Chop off the heads and tails of chilis, and remove spice if you’d like to reduce the spice level
4. Throw fresh parsley and fresh cilantro into your food processor, and blend until you reach the consistency of a rough paste
5. Add the onion, garlic and chili, blend again until homogenous
6. Stream in olive oil, lemon juice, and blend until smooth
7. Serve on grilled chicken, grilled steak, salads OR use as a marinade for meats and seafood

INGREDIENTS:

1 can canned chickpeas/ 1 cup dried chickpeas
4 cloves of garlic, OR however much you like
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh or bottled lemon juice (again, whatever you have!)
2 tablespoons tahini OR peanut butter
Hot water
Garnish: drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika OR cayenne

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Toast your chosen nuts in a pan over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, or until they turn brown. This will make your pesto so much more fragrant! Let them cool to room temperature.
2. Put your basil, toasted nuts and garlic cloves in the food processor, and blend until you have the consistency of a rough paste. Add parmesan and blend again until well combined.
3. Stream in olive oil, and blend until you have a smooth puree.
4. Season with salt and black pepper! Serve on grilled chicken OR mixed in with Caesar dressing on a salad. Whip up a quick pesto pasta by mixing in with al dente pasta, a few tablespoons of pasta water, and a tablespoon of butter. Enjoy!

NOTE:

If you’re super bougie and own a mortar and pestle, feel free to make pesto the traditional Italian way! Sadly, I do not, but I aspire to and I deeply envy those of you who do.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup pine nuts OR almonds OR walnuts, basically any neutral tasting nut!
1 bunch basil, Italian OR Asian style
3 – 4 cloves garlic, or to taste
1 cup olive oil
¼ cup grated fresh parmesan OR parmesan from a bottle (again, no judgement)
Salt and black pepper to taste!
Garnish: red chili flakes and fresh basil leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Toast your chosen nuts in a pan over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, or until they turn brown. This will make your pesto so much more fragrant! Let them cool to room temperature.
2. Put your basil, toasted nuts and garlic cloves in the food processor, and blend until you have the consistency of a rough paste. Add parmesan and blend again until well combined.
3. Stream in olive oil, and blend until you have a smooth puree.
4. Season with salt and black pepper! Serve on grilled chicken OR mixed in with Caesar dressing on a salad. Whip up a quick pesto pasta by mixing in with al dente pasta, a few tablespoons of pasta water, and a tablespoon of butter. Enjoy!

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Alexa is a law student who would much rather prefer being a food blogger. Under normal circumstances, she procrastinates by watching videos from food publications that promote and encourage content from BIPOC and fantasizes about recreating those recipes. During quarantine, she has finally managed to make those dreams come true. You can usually find her in pajama pants crouching next to the oven, checking on muffins and cakes. Follow her on Instagram at @ajchonkers for more yommy content.