Three green pesto recipes. All vegan. All nutrient-dense and providing a dose of healthy fats and antioxidants and abundant umami.
Special pesto
(makes ~1dl).
This is a very quick and nutrient dense alternative to a herb pesto that can be used on pasta, bread, knäcke savoury pancakes, or wherever you like a pesto.
0.5 dl oil mix (olive/linseed/avocado/hemp oil)
2 tsp chlorella/wheat-grass powder mix (1:2)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp almond flour/meal
¼ ripe avocado (scraped out with a spoon) (optional)
1 tsp or more regular or home-made herb pesto (optional)
Method:
Combine all ingredients in glass jar and stir to combine, adding more oil if it’s too thick, or more almond meal or nutritional yeast if it is too runny, to achieve desired consistency. Use as you would pesto, as a spread, on pancakes, or gluten-free pasta.
Can store 1 week in refrigerator.
Quck tip: For pasta, you can actually just toss the pasta with all the ingredients rather than making the pesto: Start with oils, green powders, almond flour, nutritional yeast then avocado and stir it through. You may then add some home-made or bought herb pesto if you like.
Herb pesto
Scale up or down to suit the size of your blender.
This is real pesto unlike the quick alternative above. Its dairy free, packed with goodness and tasty. If you have time to make a real pesto, this is your best choice. You can also add a dash of the chlorella/wheatgrass powder to this.
Ingredients:
2 dl walnuts or cashews soaked (or pine nuts or almond flour)
2-3 pots of basil/oregano or other herb
1 handful rocket or baby spinach (or more of the herbs)
1 dl nutritional yeast
1-2 tbsp lemon juice (optional. Goes well with oregano)
~1 dl olive oil (more if needed)
½ dl linseed/avocado/hemp oil
Method:
1. Blend nuts to a powder in a small food processor/blender.
2. Add green leaves, and pulse to chop.
3. Add oils/liquids and blend further.
4. Finally add nutritional yeast and pulse/blend further to desired consistency. Blend more for a creamier pesto or less for chunkier. Add more olive oil if needed.
Can store 1 week in refrigerator or freeze portions as ice-cubes and thaw when needed. .
Variations:
Rocket/kale/spinach pesto: You can make a pesto using rocket or kale with spinach. It is more bitter in taste than a herb pesto, but with some lemon juice and a small amount of basil or other herb works well. It’s a great way to add quite a lot of greens to your diet without feeling like you are eating a lot of green leaves. Kale, rocket and spinach are also less expensive than fresh herbs. You can also use frozen spinach, although fresh baby spinach will taste better. A spinach-dominant pesto has a very mild flavour, whereas kale and rocket are more bitter, so chose proportions to suit your taste. Most children will prefer the milder spinach taste without too much rocket or kale.
Serving suggestions
O
On a buckwheat/cassava/amaranth or otherwise gluten-free pancake (in the image is 'special pesto'
On zucchini zoodles
On more zucchini zoodles, with some roasted veg and hidden-vegetable tomato sauce.
