Homemade Pesto

Last night my dinner was green.  Very, very Dr. Seuss green.  It would make a fantastic St. Patrick’s Day dinner.

I went to Whole Foods with $20 and only $20 to spend.  I usually avoid that place, because I want to buy everything including $20 of just prepared foods!  Am I alone here?

My $20 didn’t make it very far.  I was craving roasted veggies for dinner so I got organic broccolini and asparagus.  I also got a Kombucha drink.  At the prepared foods counter I got some lentil salad and a kale/avocado salad.  Finally I stumbled across some tofu noodles in the refrigerated area.  I love pasta, but I don’t eat it a lot at dinner because of the carbs and gluten.  This “pasta” had 25 calories and no carbs.  I was excited!

$19.63 later I headed home.  My lentil salad and kale was bland.  It tasted just like health food.  That was a bummer.  Whole Foods usually makes a killer kale salad.  This one just needed more liquid and spice.

My 2 green veggies and an overflowing basil bush at home led to my dinner inspiration.  Homemade pesto with roasted veggies, chicken, and tofu noodles!

The homemade pesto was much easier to make than I anticipated.  I didn’t have walnuts, so I used pecans which worked fine.

Easy Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 
  

  Directions

  1. In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, nuts, garlic, and cheese. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing. Stir in salt and pepper.
  
  

The veggies were roasted in EVOO at 400 for 30 minutes.  The chicken was sauteed in EVOO as well.

Then came the noodles.  Oh I was so excited about them.  A delicious pasta dinner….yes!

I assembled my green gaga plate and took a bite.  If I could enter a “whomp whomp waaaa” sound effect here I would.  And a sad face.  They were not good!  Not good!  The texture was so strange.  It was like you couldn’t bite through them.  I just had to swallow them whole.  Who wants to do that?

Now that’s a green plate!

I re-read the package and they came pre-cooked so I didn’t mess them up that way.  I guess I might not have an affinity for tofu noodles.  There is another brand that the “Hungry Girl” uses a lot and I might give those a final try.  I also got the fettuccine and maybe the spaghetti won’t be as off putting.

The pesto, chicken, and veggies were divine however!  I’m also proud of myself for using my mini food processor.  I used it once last summer to make chimichurri sauce and sliced a good chunk of my finger off.  Ouch!  So I have been timid every since.  Thank you pesto for giving me courage.

Have you tried tofu noodles?  Do you like them?
Love and basil,
Carissa & Kyle