vegan pesto

today i finally made this pesto recipe i found and was saving for a while now. however i ended up changing the recipe a lot due to not having the same ingredients exactly...and it turned out freakin amazing anyways! it was a super easy lunch/dinner dish to make and incredibly tasty as well as filling. go to the site to follow the original recipe or look below to see what i ended up doing instead.




makes 2-3 servings

ingredients

¼ cup raw pecans

8 ounces of bow tie pasta

little less than ½ of a large head of broccoli (all i had) lightly steamed and chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped

1 avocado

½ cup chopped spinach & kale, packed

¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons of water (add as needed for right consistency of pesto)

salt and pepper to taste

topping

-half a tomato (or more depending on how much you love them)

-handful of flax seeds (click to see post about it's health benefits!)

-red pepper flakes for extra spice 

-some snow peas on the side/ whatever you have

note: i always substitute items in recipes for what i have at hand or prefer, so don't be afraid to change it!

how to

• i put pecans in room temperature water and soaked them for fifteen minutes
• cooked pasta as directed
• in a chopper/food processor or blender combine lightly steamed broccoli, soaked almonds, avocado, garlic, spinach & ½ cup of kale, olive oil, lemon juice and water
• add more water to get the desired smooth consistency
• put the pesto in the pasta to combine until well mixed. 
• plate your desired amount and top with half a tomato, red pepper flakes and flax seeds

* i enjoyed eating this dish with snow peas on the side