With my husband out of town this week for work, I'm flying solo with my meals. I had an entire bag of fresh spinach in my fridge, and a girl can only eat so many spinach salads! It was sadly starting to wilt, but I HATE wasting food! Solution? Pesto!With a spinach pesto you can pack all of the antioxidants of 1/2 cup of raw spinach into one 2 Tbsp serving of sauce! The antioxidants have not been removed from the other phytonutrients in the spinach, therefore their absorption is uninterrupted!
The only tool you need for this lovely sauce is a food processor or blender! The pesto keeps for about a week in the fridge. I may try freezing some of mine-- I'll keep you posted on how that turns out. Try this pesto mixed with pasta or place it onto a piece of salmon or chicken on the grill during the last couple minutes of cooking.
Simple Spinach Parmesan Pesto
Makes 2 cups-- 8 servings
4 cups raw fresh spinach leaves
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small clove garlic, pressed and minced
1/4 cup unsalted pine nuts
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp water
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and mix until a puree is formed. Store in an airtight jar or other container in the refrigerator.
Nutrition Info per 2 Tbsp: 97 calories, 7 g fat (3 g monounsaturated), 3 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, 0.8g fiber
My husband loves traditional basil pesto so I'll have to try this spinach pesto sometime! I also can't stand to throw out food - that's when you have to get creative. I freeze pesto in ice cubes (about 2 Tbsp each) which works well for us!
ReplyDeleteOh, this is a great idea!! I also get bored with the ho-hum spinach salad if I'm not careful. At least i know I can whip up something easy with the rest of it when I'm over the salads :) ~Megan
ReplyDeleteCould you skip the pine nuts if needed and not ruin the sauce?
ReplyDeleteHi Amy! Nuts are essential in a pesto (no, I'm not being a food snob). You can substitute walnuts in this as well!
ReplyDelete