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! :) 

pumpkin crunch

This Fall treat is a great snack to have on hand, a great treat if you're having company over, and a sure way to make your home smell like the holidays fast!

The recipe calls for maple syrup...I used Agave Nectar instead...worked great!

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin seeks (raw, without shell. I bought mine from Whole Foods in the bulk section)

1 ½ teaspoons canola oil

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons maple syrup (or agave)

1 ¼ cups dried cranberries (or dried cherries if you prefer)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300. Coat baking sheet with canola oil and spread pumpkin seeds evenly over sheet. Roast for twenty minutes or until almost dry. Place pumpkin seeds in a medium bowl and mix in maple syrup until coated. Combine spices in a large bowl and add pumpkin seeds. Place back on baking sheet and return to oven. Roast for fifteen minutes or until dry. Set seeds aside until completely cool – about thirty minutes. When cool, combine seeds with dried cranberries.

it looks so pretty too!

enjoy :)