I’m a sucker for herb-y sauces and pesto is one of my all-time faves cause it adds a major pop of flavor to everything it touches, from pizza and zoodles to carrots and celery sticks.

Best part? Whippin’ up a homemade batch ain’t no thing.

There’s a basic parmesan-free (ie. plant-based) formula to classic pesto – basil + pine nuts + garlic + olive oil + lemon juice + sea salt. But there are a million permutations you can take from there.

I love adding spinach to my pesto (to up-up-uppity-up the green factor, so you can save the salad for another time) and I’ve been known to mix and match my nuts and seeds (here I added walnuts for an extra punch of protein).

The herby-leafy-nutty-seedy flavor combo (think: basil + kale, parsley + almond, cilantro + pumpkin seed) possibilities are endless.

So let your creative sauces juices flow OR…just make this one…

Basil & Spinach Pesto

• 2 4-oz packages of fresh basil
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ lemon, juiced
• ¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
• ¼ cup walnuts, lightly toasted
• sea salt to taste

1. Combine all ingredients into large food processor or high-speed blender and blend to desired consistency.
2. If the pesto is too dry, add more olive oil.

Enjoy!

xo