Power Pesto Obstacle Course

I love my farmer's market. I visit friends who retired and inherited family land. They turned it into an organic farm. Other vendors sell flowers my black thumb can't grow, grass-fed beef, eggs and shrimp from the coast. Half the time I don't know what I'm getting til I get there. My ingredients determine the recipes for the week ahead. Every week is an adventure but I didn't expect the adventure to turn into an obstacle course.

This week's Farmer's Market haul.

At the top of my list of how to use this week's haul was pesto. I love it. Not only is it full of flavor but it is so versatile. A dab makes a plain sandwich into a gourmet lunch, squash noodles more than a paleo substitute for egg noodles, and ramps up any sort of salad dressing.

My ingredients

Obstacle #1: I bought some basil this week but realized I didn't have enough for all the on-line pesto recipes I was reading. What to do? What to do? Hmmmm, I had leftover power greens from last week. And sure enough, I found plenty of recipes featuring power greens like kale, chard and spinach. So I threw a couple of those in for good measure AFTER I made sure to remove the bitter stems.

Obstacle #2: Pesto traditionally is made with pine nuts and healthier versions are made with walnuts. And this girl who is allergic to everything is also allergic to the omega packed walnuts. ManO is not a nut person. Again, what to do? Parmesan cheese is an ingredient already so I added some more to make it a bit thicker.  I added more flavorful olive oil. If you aren' t allergic to certain nuts like I am but don't want the nut texture, you can use a tablespoon of nut flavored oils. They are all over the marketplace now.

Obstacle #3: ManO is not a garlic fan and pesto without garlic is my nightmare. So I just added one clove. Sniff. I really want to protect ManO's immune system with a bunch but he doesn't believe me for some reason. And he was around to make sure I didn't sneak in more than he could stand.   

Obstacle #4: I forgot to buy some meat for dinner. In reality, it was more "forgot." I'm really trying to reduce our meat, especially red meat, consumption. But I remembered turkey spaghetti sauce in the fridge.

Obstacle #5:  I also "forgot" to buy spaghetti.  Poor ManO, now he doesn't even get gluten-free rice pasta. I go for veggies as the base of the sauce. YAY! I grabbed my Farmer's Market golden zucchini and made "noodles."  Just slice any kind of squash with a veggie peeler, lay on paper towels to drain, and saute for a few minutes. I added a dollop ( a very technical cooking term, ya know) and stirred. Perfection.

      
Well, I made it through the obstacle course and this is what we had for dinner:

Power Pesto (Nutless version)

2 cups basil with stems removed
1 cup power greens (or spinach) with stems removed
1 clove (or more) minced garlic
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon (or to taste) sea salt
1/2+ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon flavored oil (optional)   

1) Place garlic in food processor and mince or mince beforehand.
2) Add salt.
3) Add greens and mince fine.
4) Add Parmesan. Do not mince yet.
5) Put on processor lid and pour oil (including flavored oil if used) slowly through opening while processing.
6) Check consistency and add more cheese or oil if necessary.
7) Put in container, cover and refrigerate.

Bonus tip: You can apparently freeze pesto by covering small containers of it with olive oil. I am such a fresh fan but may try this idea. If you are overwhelmed by basil this summer, I can totally see putting some pesto up to remind you of summer in the cold, dark winter.

Are you a pesto fan? Have you tried to make alternate types of pesto? What is your best necessity-is- the-mother-of-invention substitution when it comes to recipes? Have you every tried to make a meal and find yourself running an obstacle course?