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6 Ingredient, Dairy-Free Pesto

By on May 13, 2019 in Dressings and Sauces

I’m a big fan of gardening. Now before you start to picture me Joanna Gaines style, know this: I’ve killed way more than I’ve grown. I’ve planted a garden faithfully every summer for eight years. It’s only been in the last two that we feel like things are really going well. That said, I still kill things. Though since we had a 5-month-old puppy last summer who thought the garden was his personal sandbox, I’m not taking all the blame. Now that he’s older, I have a lot of hope for this summer.

One thing I’ve always struggled with is basil. I love basil! Everyone says it’s easy to grow, yet basil and I… we have a strained relationship. But there are many aphids who thank me for my willingness to keep trying. Last summer I planted our basil right next to the tomatoes. It worked! We had so much basil! I was overjoyed.

My very favorite thing to do with basil is make pesto. I used to think pesto was fancy and that only Food Network stars should make it and use it as a fancy schmear on plates of perfectly braised meat. The truth is, pesto is extremely easy and fast to make.

That’s good news, because I can’t find a high-quality, diary-free pesto that fits in my budget. I love pesto with dairy but sadly, my gut and skin do not. Because I want to make those two things happy, I steer clear of dairy.

This means I have to make my own pesto and I’m happy to say, the cheese does not make the pesto. It’s still AMAZING without the cheese. My cheese-loving, pesto-fanatic husband doesn’t even notice the difference.

This pesto is a part of my weekly meal prep. I always have some on hand. It comes together with just six ingredients (one of which is salt) and only dirties one dish; the food processor. So you don’t even have to chop anything. I love the 21st century.

So hopefully I’ve sold you on this pesto. Now what do you do with it? Everything! My favorite way is to coat my spaghetti squash in it. YUM! We also use it over chicken and steak, and as a salad dressing.

Adding a few spoonfuls to an Italian soup is also incredible like I do in my Italian Sausage Soup (click here for recipe). You can also toss this with some cucumbers and cherry tomatoes for a yummy side dish.

So if you have a garden, go out and plant some basil and give me all your gardening tips!

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The Easiest, Tastiest Roasted Vegetables

By on July 22, 2016 in Side Dishes

I love to roast vegetables. It doesn’t make them mushy, but rather crunchy on the outside, warm on the inside and gives them a great smoky flavor. Plus, you can use whatever vegetables you want. In our house, we have to separate them into rows in the pan because my husband is convinced if certain vegetables touch the food he eats, he’ll die. Since I don’t want him to die from zucchini contact, we do ours in rows, but you can just as easily toss all the vegetables together.

Just cube up what veggies you want, drizzle them in avocado oil and season them with salt and pepper. Rather than do this in a bowl, I just toss the whole thing right on the pan.

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Then bake them in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. I like to go with 40 minutes because I like them to have some black char on them. If you’re not a fan of that, go with 30 minutes.

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Below I’ve listed the vegetables we used, but feel free to use whatever you like.

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Healthy, Easy Cowboy Salsa

By on May 27, 2016 in Side Dishes

This is a recipe my mother-in-law made at a picnic. It’s so much better than a jarred salsa. It’s perfect with tortilla chips or crackers, but all I need is my face and the bowl. YUM!!!

In a colander, drain and rinse:

  • 1 can corn
  • 1 can black beans (I thought I had black beans and didn’t, so I used a can of pinto beans instead, which was also delicious. Despite my husband’s original claim that pinto beans are just a cheap imitation of black beans, he enjoyed it with the pinto beans as well).

Put the beans and corn in a large bowl and add:

  • 6 or 7 chopped roma tomatoes – They key to this part is to get the tomatoes about the same size as the beans and corn.
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 4 or 5 green onions – The easiest way I’ve found to chop green onions is to clip them with kitchen shears, similar to how you clip chives.

Toss this mixture together.

Then in a small bowl, combine:

  • 1 package powdered Italian dressing mix
  • the zest of one lime (this is optional, but I think it makes it even better!)
  • the juice of two limes

Pour this mixture over the salsa and toss. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge so all the flavors can combine.


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