We’ve decided to help our immune systems by doing some more
gentle yoga, quitting sugar completely (I make it sound like that’s no big
deal, but I have been craving chocolate SO MUCH, especially with my afternoon
coffee) and consuming insane quantities of fresh ginger tea. It seems to be
working as I am already feeling much better, so much so that I’m considering
going running again tomorrow.
As I was overly enthusiastic in the veg aisle again, I ended
up with tons of kale in my fridge. I wasn’t in the mood for a smoothie so I
decided to make a quick lemony pesto out of it instead. I stirred it through
some wholemeal pasta and added lots of green veggies to it to turn it into a
spring-inspired dish. If you want this dish to be extra quick, don’t bother
cooking the zucchini or asparagus as they can be both eaten raw, just slice
them both very thinly (a speed peeler is your friend here) and add them to the
pasta as they are. You’ll end up with less process and a welcome nutritional
boost.
INGREDIENTS
PESTO (makes about 240 ml / 1 cup)
- 70 g / ½ cup almonds (hemp seeds or sunflower seeds for nut allergies)
- 100 g / 3.5 oz kale (I used Lacinato kale)
- 25 g / 0.9 oz fresh basil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
- black pepper, to taste
- ¾ tsp salt, more to taste
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast(optional)
- 120 ml / ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
OTHER INGREDIENTS
- 360 g / 13 oz tortiglioni, rigatoni or penne (GF if needed)
- 100 g / 3.5 oz green peas (fresh or frozen)
- 2 courgettes / baby zucchini, sliced thinly
- 200 g / 7 oz asparagus, chopped into small pieces
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml oil (optional, if stir-frying vegetables)
- hemp seeds (optional)
- nutritional yeast (optional)
- a pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
METHOD
- Roast the almonds in a hot pan until golden and fragrant. You could also do it in an oven (180° C / 355° F) for about 10 minutes – start checking on them towards the end of the baking time as they can go from toasted to burnt in a matter of seconds. Allow the almonds to cool down completely before blending in the pesto.
- Place all the pesto ingredients apart from the olive oil into a food processor. I used 4 tbsp / ¼ cup of lemon juice in my pesto, but I like things to be lemony so you may want to adjust the amount to your taste. Process until chopped small and then start trickling in olive oil while the motor is going.
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full recipe : www.lazycatkitchen.com
