Looking for a light side dish to serve with a meal? This pesto is the perfect sauce to add to quinoa pasta, zuchinni pasta, or even spaghetti squash.
I’m a huge Rachel Ray fan and watched her put together a spinach-walnut pesto awhile back. It looked fantastic, but had loads of “Parmigiano reggiano” (how fun is that to say?!), which is a bit of a problem for my insides.
I find cheese, of any sort, to be extremely difficult to digest and always breaks my skin out, even if I have just a little bit! So… I try and steer clear of cheese and anything else that has dairy in it.
I decided to to see if I could come up with my own, healthier version of a pesto sauce… similar ingredients, but a vegan pesto, with the help of a few swaps. It took me a few attempts (so read the “NOTES” at the bottom for some options), but feel this recipe is definitely worthy of sharing.
This could not be easier to make. In a blender you blend a handful of spinach and walnuts, pink himilayan sea salt, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and garlic (optional). The flavors merge so well together, it really is a nice departure from the pesto-norm.
Cook some pasta or use a vegetable peeler and make zucchini noodles out of a few zucchinis. (Click here to see how to make zucchini spaghetti noodles “zughetti” Tangy Tahini Zughetti.) Here, I used a gluten-free pasta: Ancient Harvest Organic Quinoa Pasta Shells. It’s light and has a nice amount of protein in it.
Add your pesto to your cooked pasta, mix well and…
…serve it up! I garnished with a little fresh parsley for some added nutrients (great detoxifier), but kept the overall look simple.
You can easily add in some extra veggies like tomatoes for some added color and an extra burst of flavor, or even some buttery pine nuts for a little crunch.
The creamy texture is fantastic. The hint of lemon really comes through along with the nuttiness of the olive oil. You’d have a hard time convincing anyone that there is spinach in this dish. It blends in so well plus gives this dish a substantial health-boost with iron, calcium, protein and vitamins.
I used this pasta dish as a side dish to our meal of baked teriyaki chicken, spinach and radicchio salad. You can serve with a meal or… all by itself!
Lots of options for this simple pesto and lots of uses as well! Try it!
Ingredients:
1 c. fresh spinach
1/2 c. raw walnuts
1/4 c. extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
1 Tbsp of lemon juice (roughly 1/2 of a lemon)
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp=up to=1 tsp of pink himalayan salt
1 small garlic clove (optional)
4 sprigs of fresh parsley (garnish, optional)
Directions:
- Cook pasta according to instructions.
- In a blender or food processor blend, spinach, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, sea salt and garlic clove (optional). Blend everything at once, taste it, add additional salt, lemon juice and olive oil accordingly. Start with 1/2 tablespoon at a time to reach desired taste and thickness. (The more liquid the thinner the pesto will be.)
- Drain pasta and add blended pesto to the pasta, stir well and serve.
- Serve hot or cold.
~Serves 4
NOTES:
*You can switch out the spinach with fresh BASIL or ARUGULA. I’ve used both and it’s fantastic depending on which flavor you want to go for. (Basil is licorice-like, while the arugula is a bit bitter.)
*For a less lemony dish, omit the lemon juice or start with one TEASPOON.
*You can omit the nutritional yeast if you do not have any. I find it adds a little flavor and thickness. You can also make this non-vegan by substituting parmesan cheese for nutritional yeast as well.
*To make this KID-FRIENDLY I leave out the garlic. It really tastes good with or without it.
*If you serve this dish cold, you might need to re-season it as the pesto loses some of its zest the longer it sits in the fridge.
*This pesto is great to top a protein like fish or chicken.
*Two easy zucchini spaghetti recipes: Tangy Tahini Zughetti and Mushroom Zughetti.
