blog #98 Healthier pesto recipes

I stumbled across an article that mentioned something that stuck with me:

“Adjust the ingredients to your taste”

I’m a huge fan of this philosophy and I make soups with no recipe at all — I like to throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of whatever from my refrigerator.

Pesto is a sauce made from basil. Basil extract has been reported to have antioxidant activity. 

Generally, pesto includes:

Basil

Salt

Olive oil

Pine nuts

Cheese (parmesean)

Garlic

Check out this typical recipe:

I liked this article that suggests altering pesto to your needs:

This recipe calls for:

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

My recipe doesn’t include garlic or cheese, and instead of pine nuts I used almonds. Why not? It tastes just as good and I saved money on the nuts (pine nuts are pricy) and calories on the cheese.

It’s really hard to estimate how many calories are in pesto you get at a restaurant because it depends what it’s made with and mostly how much oil is used. Since the oil content is unknown when dining out, perhaps opting out of pesto as a topping is a good option.

Less oil, elimination of cheese, and less nuts can yield a lower calorie sauce.

Remember a little pesto goes a long way. Enjoy.

What I like pesto on/in:

Eggs/omelet

Soups

Salads (instead of dressing)

Rice or whole grain noodles

Quinoa

Steamed veggies like broccoli or tomatoes

Because pesto is made from simple chopping or pureeing ingredients together, it is considered a “raw food.”