Pistachio and Spinach Pesto

Hi. Has anyone here started the new year off with a crap ton of resolutions only to completely “forget” about them two weeks later? Not just me?

This year I am trying to have resolutions that are not just long term goals but meaningful long term goals, not just the vaguely typical loose 5 lbs or eat healthier. One of my resolutions is to not waste as much food. I don’t waste a lot of food. But a lot more goes into the trash than I would like. I know that I could compost, but with my OCD and the standards of others (I should say, lack thereof), I am hesitant to keep anything other than my secure lock trash bin in my kitchen.

This has forced me to be creative in the kitchen, use the stems and tops of vegetables, save dough scraps from my croissant bakes and eat food in my fridge in a timely manner. This means that I am not eating out as much and I am more creative in the kitchen.

I came up with this vegan pesto out of the realization that I had “green tings” in my fridge, and some leftover nutritional yeast (a plant-based answer to cheese) and pistachios from the holidays. I literally threw the ingredients into the food processor, and 5 minutes later after tinkering with the seasoning and acid, had a delicious plant-based pesto that I put onto some gluten-free pasta. Dinner was done. Feel free to double or triple the quantities if your feeding a family or your just really hungry. Stays fresh in the fridge 4-5 days.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves peeled

5 tbsp of pistachios, unsalted

fresh cracked pepper

1/4 tsp of salt - add more as you taste, especially after you taste with lemon juice

2 cups of fresh spinach

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast

1 cup of fresh parsley

1 pinch each of cayenne pepper and cumin

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (if your trying to cut down on fat, just add half)

half to whole lemon juice - I used a whole lemon, I liked the flavor better

Put the garlic, salt, pistachios and spices into the food processor. Blend until ingredients are finely chopped (see photo), season with a little pepper. Add in greens - process again until chopped fine. Lastly, add oil and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning, adjust accordingly to your palate. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.

P.S. There’s a photo of the gf pasta if your interested in buying it, I love it.