On Sunday's, our little group of four usually travels to Joe's parents or my parents house for the day. Just some family time, usually spent running around outside, with food and stories about our week, always interrupted by the kids and their adorable antics. This past Sunday we spent with my mom and dad in Batesville. As I've mentioned, dad has gone vegan, so eating over there these days means we'll be getting our required vegetable and fruit intake for the day and then some. It was a pour down rainy day all day so it was perfect for comfort food. Dad whipped up this vegan spinach, basil, and walnut pesto with some summer veggies over pasta. Dad always makes the best food. And with one bite I let him know I'd be stealing that recipe for pesto and posting it on the blog. I also told him I'd give him credit. This is dad's recipe. There.
This recipe calls for nutritional yeast. I don't want to post recipes with ingredients I can't get in rural Mississippi. And nutritional yeast is something you can't get anywhere around here. For those who aren't so rural and have access to Whole Foods or Trader Joes, you can easily find it. And for my fellow country folk, you can purchase nutritional yeast from Nuts dot com for $7/8oz bag. I've purchased through Nuts.com and they are speedy and reliable, with super awesome packaging (which always gets my attention). A little goes a long way, so I recommend starting with 8 ounces. It's a powder that is used as thickener for soups, or can be added to sauces or other recipes for a cheesy flavor. It sounds really weird, I know. But just try it. I'll give you the $7 if you want.
And, look, you can use Parmesan cheese instead.
Let me just show you the picture of the pesto before you get too weirded out by nutritional yeast...
Fun Fact: You might know this, you might not. Dad was telling me he went with spinach in his pesto because he's trying to incorporate low calorie, high nutrient and vitamin enriched vegetables into his diet, more. Spinach has 7 calories per cup. Know how many carbs it has? One. A carb. A cup of spinach has a carb in it. Cray cray.
Anyway. So there's that.
Spinach Basil Walnut Pesto- 4 cups spinach
- 1 cup basil
- 1/2 cup of walnuts
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or 1/4 cup grated Parmesan)
- salt to taste
In a food processor or blender, pulse all of the ingredients until smooth. Add more garlic and salt to your taste.
Store in a jar or air tight container. Mix in with warm noodles and sauteed vegetables, coat chicken breasts in pesto and bake, or spread on flat bread for pizza.
This pesto is creamy and garlicky and bright. It's a comfort food you'll never feel bad about. Get your vitamin A, K, C, and B on!
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