This is a delightful Pesto that lives up to the hype. It’s so darn tasty and every time I’ve made it I make slight adjustments to the seasoning and have yet to not love the results. Ok maybe this week when I doubled the garlic. We were breathing garlic fuel after dinner, so perhaps I overdid that one.
This recipe is from an Instagram contributor and podcaster that I truly enjoy listening to and find motivating and informative. Chelsea Mae coaches others on how to lose weight on a plant-based diet, but she is so much more than that. Her recipes are healthy, tasty, and fun and easy to make. You can find her on Instagram at:
Let me know what your favorite recipes are after you’ve watched this delightful young lady!
Basic Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
BASIL In her video, Chelsea says lots, which is a great example of how relaxed she is in the kitchen, but I started out with 4 cups of fresh basil leaves. Again, all the proportions are based on your taste, so don’t get too worried about being exact.
AVACADO This replaces oil with a healthy fat that offers a lot of nutrition with the calories. I use a really large ripe one or two if they are smaller.
ROASTED CASHEWS The suggestion is 1 Cup. I buy cashews in bulk and store them in the freezer. I pull out a cup and roast them over a very low fire in my green pan. I have burned more than one batch, so be careful that you stir often and keep the fire very low. Once they start to brown and release their oils, I lightly salt them and remove from the stove top.
GARLIC 2-3 Cloves. This is really to taste and based on the size of the cloves.
LEMON JUICE Another case where the suggestion is ‘lots’ and then Chelsea proceeds to use packaged lemon juice because she didn’t have fresh at the moment. I love how relaxed she makes it. I use the juice of a whole lemon because we love lemons and always have them on hand.
NUTRITIONAL YEAST ½ Cup or to taste, but I love the cheesy nutty flavor it adds and I’m getting protein and B vitamins with all that flavor, so why skimp? Spread the love!
SALT We try to be as SOS free as possible in our house, but this is one recipe that really comes to life with a bit of salt.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Chelsea says you can throw all the ingredients into a blender or food processor but she recommends you make this using a food processor to keep the finished product chunky. Since I love chunky, that’s all I have tried. Once I had to put it back in the processor because the garlic chunks were too large, so blend until you start to get a consistency that looks like pesto.
It should keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator about a week to ten days. I can’t attest to that because it has never lasted that long around here. We use it on chick pea pasta noodles, as a sandwich spread and a dip for veggies. Yummy all by itself! But be mindful of your portions, while this is made of healthy fats, it’s very calorie dense.