Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Adventures in food processing - vegan spinach pesto recipe

I've never been much of a cook and I find myself having to cook a lot lately. Most of my life, I've actually been fiercely against cooking. I think it was some sort of feminist thing. I've found out you can still be domestic and feminist at the same time. Yippee. Now go do the dishes, husband!
So, this week I've learned to use the food processor. As part of our wedding registry we got a blender/food processor combo to take up less space. I've feared the food processor for over a year now. There's so many parts. I have to read the manual. I can't just shove food in there like the blender and then scream when it stops rotating.
The reason for my new foray into cooking is out of medical necessity. Don't worry, I'm not dying. But, basically vegetables (among many other things, including dairy) are my enemy for the time being unless they are cooked beyond sogginess or pureed. Yum baby food. And still I have to be careful. I'm contemplating whether to share my adventures into getting diagnosed and seeing a dietician with you, but I haven't quite made up my mind yet. It's not exactly something you brag about.
So, a sneaky way to get some vitamins and avoiding dairy is a recipe for my own little vegan spinach pesto. It smelled amazing and fresh and was so beautifully green! So much NOT like the jarred stuff. It may be vegan (and I know that term scares people), but tastes like regular ol' spinach pesto. The vegan Parm smells a little vile in the jar, but it's the best vegan cheese there is, in my opinion. The other stuff is quite sticky...and wet...
Vegan Spinach Pesto
4 cups lightly packed baby spinach
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp. fresh basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated Vegan Parmesan cheese

Place a 1/4 of the spinach leaves, garlic, pine nuts, basil and some of the oil in the food processor. Pulse until pretty obliterated. Then add more oil and some more spinach and repeat. Do this until spinach and oil are all gone, scraping down the sides in between. Add Parmesan cheese and 1/8 tsp. salt and process until mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4 comments:

  1. Hmmm, I've never made pesto with spinach. What a good idea.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
    My best wishes to a healthier you and may happy, delicious adventures with your food processor. Your pesto looks really yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pest with spinach? Definitely worth a try. This would be great spread on bread before making a panini!

    ReplyDelete