Creamy Vegan Almond Pesto and Ways to Use it

Posted on : September 4th, 2018

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Vegan Almond Pesto It’s almond pesto season! Well, it has been for awhile but I just woke up to the fact that I’ve been missing out on one of my favorite things to eat in the summer and there’s still time to remedy that! If you have a nice crop of basil or spinach threatening to go to waste, start picking it. Pesto is something you can make and freeze in ice cube trays or small containers to use all through the year. Using almonds instead of pine nuts is a nice variation and swapping nutritional yeast and/or white miso paste for parmesan cheese makes the recipe I want to share today a great dairy-free vegan treat. And it’s SO easy to make, versatile and delicious. It’s well worth the effort.

Today’s recipe was created by Chef Dan Churchill for the Almond Board of California but the variations included are my own. Pesto can be made in so many ways so feel free to experiment. If you’re not vegan, go ahead and add a handful of parmesan and leave out the miso paste or nutritional yeast. Use all basil or mix it up with other greens—I like spinach best but parsley has also worked well for me. A squeeze of lemon juice can be very good and —believe or not— raisins! Mix a lemon juice and raisin pesto with ricotta cheese (here’s a vegan version) and serve over (or in) ravioli. Quite delightful!

Creamy Vegan Almond Pesto

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch of basil (or any combination of basil, spinach and parsley)

1/4 cup almonds

3 garlic cloves

2/3 cup olive oil

1 tbsp white miso paste (0r 2 tbsp nutritional yeast)

Optional: 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup raisins, anything you prefer

PREPARATION:

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and process until you have a paste.

Is anything simpler than that? Now how should you use it?

Toss it with pasta and sauteéd mushrooms.
Mix a few spoons into your favorite vegetable or minestrone soup.
Spread it on toasted french bread.
Stir it into salad dressings—it makes a great vinaigrette.
Use a dab to garnish a baked potato or cooked vegetables.

Maisie Jane’s California Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded on strong beliefs and passion for offering unique, flavorful, top-quality, nut products. We strongly believe in earth-friendly practices that start on our family owned and operated orchards. We use Organic farming practices and continue in the process by using all-natural ingredients with no preservatives or GMOs. We believe in honest, friendly and helpful customer relations at all levels. We take pride in every task, every day, with every person.

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