The Healthiest + Best Tasting Pesto You've Ever Made

Basil Growing in Garden

We are in the Dog Days of Summer - my favorite time of year!  With these days comes the bounty of summer vegetables and herbs, including basil.  What's great about basil, like other herbs, it can be grown in pots with minimal space.  We are actually growing ours this year in two spots; in pots on the deck, and in our community garden plot with our summer vegetables.

Basil is not only known for it's distinct fragrance and wonderful taste, it is also known to provide a host of health benefits. It is anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and its nutrients support cardiovascular health.

My favorite way to use basil is to roll it, chop it into fine slices, and sprinkle on top of summer soups and dishes. That said, when you have a mountain of basil, like we do now, I don't want a single leaf to go to waste!

Pesto is an amazing, powerful spread you can create using minimal ingredients and in a matter of minutes.  It takes a lot of leaves to make a good pesto, so those extra bunches you don't feel like drying will be in good company!

Most traditional pesto calls for pine nuts, but I like to make mine nut-free so everyone can enjoy.

Healthy + Delicious Pesto

Nourishing Cleansing Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup (your choice) of either parsley leaves, cilantro, or mint
• 2 sun dried tomatoes
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (as needed)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Combine the basil, herbs (either parsley, cilantro, OR mint), sun dried tomatoes, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until it is finely chop.  Add in your olive oil slowly in a steady drizzle as you continue to pulse.  Process until it becomes a smooth, light paste.

Add enough olive oil to keep it moist and spreadable.  Season with sea salt.  Cover tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour to saturate the flavors.  If storing over night (important!), pour a thin layer of extra-virgin olive oil over the top of the pesto to help keep it bright green.

Voila! 

**TIP:  If you enjoy the taste of cilantro, I highly recommend that you make this pesto with cilantro rather than parsley or mint.  Cilantro is one of the most detoxifying herbs and helps to remove your body of unwanted toxins.  That said, if cilantro tastes like soap to you (like it unfortunately does for me), then substitute with either parsley leaves or mint which are also cleansing.

Be well,

If you like this recipe and are interested in others, check out my Seasonal Nourishing Menu.

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5 Ingredient Vinaigrette

Spring is in the air and with it comes the promise of gorgeous and delicious spring and summer salads.  Many people eat salads with the best of intentions, but ruin their healthful creation by piling on gobs of unhealthy dressings.  Even those so called "lite" dressings, which may be low in calories, are chock-full of ingredients that are detrimental to your health.

store-bought processed dressing

Here is an example of a popular Italian dressing. First ingredient - canola oil! This is NOT a healthy oil. It causes low-level inflammation in the body, a precursor to disease.  Not to mention the other harmful ingredients such as monosodium glutamate (msg) and polysorbate-60.




What most people don't realize is how SIMPLE and DELICIOUS making your own, healthful salad dressings can be!  Below is a recipe for a home made, simple, 5 ingredient  spring strawberry vinaigrette made with all fresh, real-food ingredients. So simple to make, takes no more than a few minutes with just a few basic ingredients.

Spring Strawberry Vinaigrette

- 6 organic strawberries (medium)
- 1 small shallot or 1/4 white onion
- 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon raw, local honey

Remove stems from strawberries and cut in half.  Place in a food processor or VitaMix.  Chop the shallot or onion and add to strawberries.  Next add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and honey.  Mixture should look like this pre-mixed:

dressing ingredients pre-mixed

Blend.  Poor in mason jar.  Voila!  Delicious home made vinaigrette to be served on any salad or used as a dip for veggies.  Makes 4 oz.  Keeps for a week in the refrigerator.

strawberry vinaigrette dressing

Olive oil is an extremely healthy oil in its uncooked state, providing loads of healthy omega-3's.  It is also rich in polyphenols which has anti-inflammatory properties (the very opposite of canola). That said, olive oil is not suited for medium or high-heat cooking as olive oil has a very low smoke point. Save your olive oil for dressings and marinades like our nourishing spring strawberry vinaigrette.

For your strawberries, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you choose organic.  Strawberries are on the "dirty dozen" list of one of the foods most highly contaminated with pesticides.  There are 54 pesticide residues confirmed by the USDA found on conventional strawberries, many being known carcinogens and neurotoxins.  Pesticides cannot be washed off of foods.  They are found in the meat of the fruit or vegetable.

This simple Spring Strawberry Vinaigrette is one of the recipes found in my Seasonal   Nourishing Spring Menu Plan. All of the recipes found in these plans are just as simple and nutritious as this dressing.  Full details here.  Weekly shopping lists provided and delivered straight to your inbox!

Be well,

Janelle

Interested in learning more?  Please visit my website.