Kale Pesto Recipe

I love pesto.

I love pesto but I don't buy much of it, just because you have to finish up a jar within 3 days of opening it. In fact, I still have a store bought jar in the fridge!

Once, a colleague and I cleaned up a jar over lunch at work. Her family wasn't keen on it, so with a stick of baguette and something else (I can't recall now), we used up the pesto as a spread.

My bunch of kale was turning yellow pretty quickly and there's just so much I can eat and juice, so I thought making some pesto would be a great idea.

For the record, pesto doesn't have to contain just basil or pine nuts. Recipes out there also suggest alternatives like using kale, rocket, tomatoes or coriander for the basil, and almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts, macadamia nuts, or pistachio nuts for pine nuts. The possibilities are endless. :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of kale leaves, torn and packed into the cups

1/2 cup of cashew nuts, crushed and divided into 2 portions (I only have these in the pantry!)

1/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese*

1/4 cup of olive oil*

1 TBSP of lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. Chuck everything except 1 portion of nuts into blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour in the remaining nuts and stir.

2. Add salt and/or pepper for taste.

Recipe adapted from Oh My Veggies.

*Note: I think it needs another 1/4 cup of cheese and olive oil.

I think the only issue I have with raw kale is the sticky aftertaste on my teeth. Bah!

Kale is currently on the world's list of super food (once upon a time, it was a chia seed craze, remember?) recommended for consumption. It's high in vitamins A, C and K, high in calcium and lowers the risk of cancer, too.  

Today's lunch. :)

Yesterday's lunch was wholemeal spaghetti with kale pesto and man, it was nasty! The spaghetti tasted like cardboard and it took a lot of determination to finish up my plate. But honestly, I don't recall it being so bad. I must have bought a pack of pure wholemeal one, then. ;D

Kale is great as a stir fry vegetable dish. Just add sesame oil, minced ginger and a pinch of salt, you're good to go!