Me, serving dinner: “The salmon has kale pesto on it.”
Rob: “I thought pesto was made with basil…”
Me: “If it’s green, you can pretty much make pesto out of it.”
Rob: “Do I need to put a lock on the yard waste bin?”
I don’t know why it never occurred to me to make pesto out of kale before that night. Because it’s absolutely true: you can make delicious pestos out of so many varieties of leafy greens (though generally yard waste is discouraged). I’ve even subbed avocado (see recipe) for the olive oil before!
This is a standard pesto recipe in every other way, but certainly you can swap out the pine nuts for walnuts too, if that strikes your fancy. Even better? Pesto freezes beautifully in ice cube trays, making it a super convenient to add to sauces and soups any night of the week. Love that!
Ingredients:
2 cups kale, washed and stems stripped off
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
2 T parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
2 T lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Place kale in bowl of food processor and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients to food processor and blend until smooth consistency. Add additional olive oil as needed to create desired texture. Top cooked chicken or fish or use it on spiralized zucchini or other vegetables for a delicious alternative to pasta. Enjoy!
