The Food Guys are on a roll talking about no-cook foods that suit the heat of summer. This week, they recommend three types of sauces: pesto, vinagrettes, and mayonnaise.
Pesto is good on fish, potatoes or pasta. The most familiar version is made of basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic and cheese, but instead of basil, you can use cilantro (hold the cheese for this one, says Greg) or parsley or spinach. (For the latter, blanch the spinach and squeeze the water out before pureeing it with the olive oil, garlic and cheese.) In general, Greg stays away from using 100% Thai basil; if you use it, he suggests mixing it with other varieties of basil. Pull off the basil leaves, chop, and puree them with nuts. Add chopped garlic, then oil. Finally, add the cheese. Add salt only at the end, since cheese is salty.
Vinagrette is three to four parts olive oil to one part vinegar, with salt and pepper. Use high-quality olive oil. Dijon mustard is a great emulsifier.
Mayonnaise: egg yolks and lemon juice combine with high-quality oil (olive and/or seed oil, like safflower oil) and salt and pepper. For eggless, non-dairy mayonnaise, combine 1/2 cup of soy milk and 1 cup of sunflower oil in an immersion blender with cider vinegar and salt and mix.
(Broadcast: "The Food Guys," 8/28/16 and 9/1/16. Listen weekly on the radio at 11:50 a.m. Sundays and again at 4:54 p.m. Thursdays, or via podcast.)
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