This is so extravagant, I want to eat this brazil nut pesto on absolutely everything! Why haven’t I thought of this before? The magical mineral rich nut is the ideal candidate when you don’t have/want pine nuts. Sunflower seeds, yes, very yummy substitute as well as almonds, but they still don’t equate to the awesomeness of selenium rich brazil nuts. Its pesto season, my friends, and I am lapping it up and licking the spoon, I suggest you do the same.
A multitude of ways to enjoy basil pesto…
- In this pesto potato salad
- atop grilled chicken or white fish
- as a base sauce for pizza
- added to scrambled eggs
- mixed in with stir fried veggies
- added to cauliflower rice
- heaped onto fresh tomatoes for a tasty snack
- slathered on zucchini noodles
- in salad dressings
- as a sandwich spread
- mixed in with goat cheese
- with roasted sweet potatoes and cauliflower
…and many more!
Potato salad is quintessential summer food and the addition of pesto is bloody good. Adding in little additional greens helps to mop up extra saucy goodness, crunchy onion,kale and swiss chard were on hand and worked beautifully. New potatoes or baby potatoes work the best since they are so tender and the texture is just melt in your mouth. Check out your local farmers market for the best of the best, after all, food that grew close to home always tastes better. Today at the store I needed some garlic and there was a sale bag full of organic garlic imported from Chile for 3.50, then there was a brilliant purple hued russian heritage variety grown locally and each bulb was the same price as the entire bag from Chile. Although I go throw garlic like a mad woman, I had to get the local stuff, I know it’s a million +1 times better. Still, this discrepancy in local fare costing far more than imported needs to change. Maybe a time will come when we can barter skills and trade commodities instead of fueling this global trade economy, because lets face it, we’re not doing the environment any favours, nor ourselves. I’m not saying that it will ever be 100%, there are plenty of useful things we can only get from other countries, but when our food security is at stake, or worse, doesn’t exist at all, something has got to give.
It’s the little things that count, one person cannot change the world, but collectively we can shift this paradigm. Our hearts know this beautiful world is possible. A new UN report says small scale organic farming is the only way to feed the world, that’s right, not GMO’s and mono crops, humanity has always known this. Our amnesia is only temporary, as more reports like this start to come out it becomes blatantly obvious that we need to reconnect with the earth & remember, we are all connected. Thanks for reading friends.
Ingredients
- 2 C lightly packed basil
- 1/2 C olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3/4 C brazil nuts
- 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese, or nutritional yeast for vegan version
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- 1 lb new potatoes
- 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 leaves swiss chard, kale or other greens, finely chopped
- 1/2 C mayonnaise
- 1/2 C pesto
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, start by adding the garlic, brazil nuts, basil and cheese, start blending and slowly add the olive oil until mixture starts to become smooth, add salt and pepper.
- Boil water for the potatoes and cook until tender. Allow potatoes to cool before proceeding.
- Mix the pesto and mayonnaise together, or leave the mayonnaise out for vegan
- Add the cooled potatoes, kale, chard and onion to a large bowl and incorporate the pesto-mayonnaise until everything is well coated. I like to use my hand and mash the potatoes up a bit so that they absorb the most sauce.
