I am a huge veggie eater, and add a little tomato sauce and who needs noodles right? I used to love Alfredo sauce, and with the right veg that was awesome also. A little salt and pepper and no sauce is fine too, in a pinch. But pesto? Pesto was never in our family repertoire of go-to meals. Ever. Like I had never had pesto until I decided to make the Broccoli Pesto. So who knows if I am making it right, but it sure is turning out to be an easy and yummy alternative for veggies! Here is my Summer Pesto and Veggies.
mm
mm
mm
mm
mm
This pot has everything to do with consuming the end-of-summer veggies in bulk without a lot of fanfare. I was originally going to not do anything to the vegetables, just have them raw, but with week-long meal making veggies tend to go watery or bad pretty quick so I switched it up a little. I sautéed the veggies, but it was just a quick saute. I started cutting veggies and dropped them all in the pot. Total time wise I probably only had the veggies in the pot for about 20 minutes. All veggies still had crunch and good texture.
mm
mm
mm
mm
This is another of the one-pot wonders. I had gotten my big pasta pot out and boiled up a bag of large macaroni noodles. I didn’t want this “pasta” dish to be about the pasta. I wanted to have mostly veg and little noodles. I think the choice of large macaronies was the best option. You get your carb fix and still the good calories of the veggies.
mm
mm
mm
mm
For the pesto I tried to think of what I wanted in it this time, and was still related to summer veggies. What did I come up with? Parsley and spinach. What an awesome combo! All those spinach greens and the fresh parsley were amazing, and made me think about just sauteing some parsley and spinach for a quick dinner during the week! For the nut factor in the pesto I used un-blanched almonds…yes, un-blanched. Every recipe you read that calls for a nut, you need to blanch them. Well I knew I was going to need something with a little more texture with sautéed veg and noodles, and a food processor and almonds was just the thing.
mm
mm
mm
mm
The pesto turned out amazing. I am really falling for pesto! Who knew that something that doesn’t look all that appealing could turn out so yummy! I mean, green flecked sauce all over your food? Might make you a little nervous. But this pesto with the parsley-spinach-almond combo, with the hints of basil and oregano for seasoning just turned this out! So yummy. I did not get tired of all the leftovers at all on this one.
Summer Pesto and Veggies, 8 servings
Fresh:
3 Carrots, chopped
2 Pkg Whole Mushrooms, quartered
2 Large Zucchini, chopped
2 Red Pepper, chopped
1/2 Bunch Spinach, washed and destemmed
1 Pkg Frozen Peas
2 C Fresh Spinach, washed and destemmed
1 Bunch Fresh Parsley, washed and destemmed
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Pepper
1 Tsp Basil
1 Tsp Oregano
1 Tsp Onion Powder
2 Oz Almonds
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/3 C WestSoy Milk
1. In food processor drop all pesto ingredients. Close and process. May have to scrape down sides and reprocess. Let set until everything ready.
Fitting Into Vegan 
Pingback: Creamy Cilantro Pesto | Fitting Into Vegan