Spinach Pesto For the Win
It’s been a rough couple of weeks with illness in the family. I've been trying to keep my head above water and give myself and my family what we need. Lots of rest and hydration, targeted supplements, good but easy food, and sunshine and fresh air as often as we can manage it. It’s weird that we totally got through cold and flu season unscathed, but got hammered in mid-April!
Fun preschool alphabet scavenger hunt!
Meanwhile, when I have a moment and a bit of energy, I've been trying to squeeze in a bit of meal prep and fun preschool activities for my little superhero. Side note: we watched The Secret Life of Pets with him this week and he deeply connects with Snowball the crazy rabbit villain-turned-superhero. Oh boy!
So, I had this huge bag of spinach from our CSA and I had dipped into it multiple times, trying to use it in smoothies, sautéed for a dinner side, etc. And, I’m not gonna lie, spinach just isn’t my favorite leafy green. But, then I remembered two important things…1) you can use pretty much any leafy green to make pesto. It doesnt have to be basil. Also, FYI, you can throw whatever nut or seed in there - it doesn’t have to be pine nuts. And 2) like a year ago, I made some spinach into pesto in the hopes that my newly picky 2.5 year old would eat it over noodles if I called it Very Hungry Caterpillar Noodles. He did and he loved it!
I took about 15 minutes before making dinner and whizzed up 3 batches of spinach pesto, using up a ton of spinach, and froze it for my future self. I was so proud! And it was so pretty! The cherry on top was that my son still absolutely loves it…except now he corrects me and tells me is “spinach garlic pesto sauce”. I still want to call it Very Hungry Caterpillar Noodles.
Three small batches of pesto for the freezer.
I just used my basic cooking knowledge to throw together a rough approximation of pesto, so this isn’t a precise recipe. I used our Ninja Smoothie Maker which did make bulk prepping a bit more challenging. For each batch, I filled the container with spinach, tossed in a handful of pine nuts, juice of half a lemon, about 1/4 cup-ish of Parmesan cheese, a clove or 2 of garlic, a pinch of salt, and a good glug of olive oil (approx. 1/4 c.). I just tasted after I blended it up and adjusted ingredients, if it didn’t seem quite right.
I figure it's an easy way to get extra greens into our diet and all those wonderful heath benefits. Spinach is high in vitamins K and C, iron, potassium, magnesium, folate, and calcium. It lowers blood pressure, protects the brain, and builds up your blood, among other things.
Pesto is versatile, too! You can obviously use it on pasta (I cooked up some high quality Italian sausage and tossed with pesto and noodles for a simple and delicious meal with our first batch). But, you can also spread it as a base on homemade pizza, pour it over chicken as a sauce, or use it on sandwiches. There are plenty of great pesto recipes and riffs out there. It was just a revelation to me that I didn’t need to overcomplicate it, just throw a few things in the blender and tweak as necessary.
I hope your May is starting out well! I’m looking forward to spending more time in the garden and enjoying simple, fresh, and healthy meals.
