Wednesday, January 25, 2012

kale pesto

Hello again!

I hope you've all had a chance to enjoy balsamic green beans since that's 
the last thing I posted FOREVER ago! 
Sorry, really I am!!
I go through such spurts of feeling committed to this little blog...shady, I know. haha, get it? :)
ok anyways. I'm back and am going to try my hardest to be more consistent....because I have lots of things I want you to try. 

First up...kale pesto.
 Let me just say that I am sooo thankful for the produce co-op we're in. 
It's fun, affordable, and a great way for us (resident and teacher/nanny) to be 
able to eat more local and organic produce.
In our box last week, we got lots of kale, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, clementines, 
spring mix lettuce, etcccc.... so much yumminess for just about $27. 

I made kale pesto and:
1. added it to whole wheat angel hair pasta with snap peas and broccoli
2. used it as a condiment to make delicious turkey sandwiches
3. dipped fresh vegetables in it instead of hummus
4. used it as a base for pizza

oh so good. 5 ingredients (plus s&p). easy shmeezy. healthy.

Ingredients: 
1 bunch kale
1/2 cup walnuts (OR pinenuts, almonds, or cashews)
about 1/2 cup olive oil (or a little less)
3-6 cloves garlic, depending on how garlicky you like things
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: 
Remove kale from stem and peel garlic. 
Chop nuts in food processor. 
Add 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, garlic, cheese, and lemon juice to food processor. 
Blanch kale in salt water (bring water to a boil, add kale, 
return to boil, remove kale and rinse in cold water, squeeze water from kale)
Add blanched kale to food processor and pulse until pesto-like consistency. 
Add more olive oil if necessary. 


Enjoy! :)