Kale Pesto
I’ve been craving green food lately, which led me to grab a big bunch of green kale while shopping. I went searching food sites to see if there was something besides kale chips, which I’ve had and love, but I wanted something a bit more substantial – like a meal.
I found inspiration while perusing kale recipes at 101 Cookbooks, and what I came up with is a creamy, lemony, green pesto, loosely based on the winter pasta recipe.
Kale must be a super food, because it’s packed with vitamins and minerals. And I love that both the lemon and kale are alkaline-producing foods, helping us to lower acidity and inflammation in our body. Here’s one chart I found that can help you find more alkaline foods. Not all food I eat is alkaline, but I try to find a happy balance of acid and alkaline foods on a daily basis.
You can add the pesto to brown rice or quinoa pasta, soups and roasted vegetables, or even baked fish or chicken. Next on my list is mixing the pesto with quinoa and rice for a tasty green risotto.
Tip To make this a diary-free pesto, replace the Parmesan cheese with about 1/4 cup of pine nuts plus a 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
Kale Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 medium bunch of kale leaves, stalk removed (about 6 stalks)
- 2 medium shallots, peeled (or green onions work too)
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (or use 1/4 cup of pine nuts and 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt to make it dairy-free)
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (or even a bit more if you like)
- sea salt & pepper to taste
Method
- Add about 4 cups of water to a saucepan and bring to a steady low boil. Alternatively, you can set up a steamer to steam the kale.
- Add the garlic, shallots, and kale to the boiling water for just a minute or two, and then remove them using a slotted spoon or tongs.
- If you’re making pasta to go along with the pesto, leave the water boiling and add the pasta now.
- Place the garlic, kale, shallots, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice in a food processor or blender, and process until creamy and very well blended.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. I usually add more lemon juice instead of salt. Up to you though.
- Now you’re ready to use the pesto, or you can store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Enjoy!
You might also like:
- Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Vanilla honey ice cream
- Chocolate Chip Muffins (using coconut flour)
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9 Responses to Kale Pesto
Your kale pesto looks divine!! I also love kale, called krul kool in Dutch!
MMMMMM,…That vibrant green is looking so tasty!
Krul kool – very cool
I am wondering why you boil the kale, shallots, and garlic for a minute?! This does look very good!
Just to soften it a bit. The kale is very course and blanching it (essentially what you’re doing) changes the flavor slightly and softens it so it’s more like spinach in texture.
Ahhh. Thanks! I am going to make this w/my sis! My husband is not too adventurous when it comes to food! Kale is pretty strong!
You’ll find that blanching it takes the slight bitter taste out of the kale, and then the lemon and garlic dominate the flavor. Enjoy!
Hi there,
I am a HUGE fan of Kale and all greens! I do a pesto with collard greens that’s very similar. Another recipe that I love with Kale (that’s hearty, like your post mentioned) is a kale salad: tear into bite size pieces, cut and add red bell pepper and onion, mix with dash of lemon juice and guacamole … it’s substantial and it’s tasty and it’s different! Enjoy!
Yum. Love your salad idea!
Awesome Website! Simple ingredients and simple preparation…somehow i think it used to be that way and we were steered away from it? Thanks for your efforts. If you are not already familiar, you should look into the Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates. Dr. Mercola is a great source too! Also a documentary about Dr. Burzynski is worthwhile!
articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/17/why-does-the-us-have-the-highest-rate-of-cancer-in-the-world.aspx