This recipe is somewhat inspired from the serving suggestion idea on the back of the package of steak. You know who they have a little “peel here” label, and you open it, and there is a recipe or 2 inside?
I was wandering through the grocery store waiting for inspiration to strike. My husband loves his steak, so I was looking at the steaks, and I saw “spicy lemon pesto”. Hmmmmm! Sounds good, right? So I picked up a steak. When I got home, I saw the recipe really just called for pesto, and then adding lemon zest and juice. I decided to see what I could come up with.
I like to combine spinach and basil when I make pesto – then I am not using so much basil, and spinach is such a nutritional powerhouse anyways! And I currently have a ton of spinach in my garden!
Lemon Garlic Pesto
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1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup cashews
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
4 cloves garlic
2 cups spinach, loosely packed
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
salt/pepper
In a food processor, process the nuts until they resemble a fine dust – don’t turn it into nut butter, but watch it so the nuts are just finely chopped.
Add in the garlic, spinach, water, olive oil, and basil. Process until well mixed.
Add in the lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse to combine.
I brushed the pesto on the steak during the last couple minutes of cooking.
It really did add a lot of flavor! I sliced it, and put it on top of a salad.
Pesto actually makes a great salad dressing too! Recently I have been into non-traditional salad dressings… watered down BBQ sauce makes a great salad dressing! With the saucy-ness of the pesto, I didn’t feel I needed an additional sauce.
Sweet and simple …
What a great idea adding the spinach to the pesto! I wish I had this right now, I am starving
Rhonda recently posted..The Best Thing I Ever Ate – Using Chopsticks
ahhh! I like using spinach cause for me it is readily available, then I don’t have to use so much basil … I definitely have more spinach in my garden than basil!
I like the idea of using spinach, Jane. Sometimes all the basil can be a bit overpowering. Yours looks delicious. I need to make some of this soon. We make a simple pizza of just crust with pest and sliced tomatoes over top. Of course, a bit of Parmesan is good with it too.
Jane recently posted..THE WAYFARERS
That does sound really good .. I might have to make that tonight!
This is such a gorgeous color–and sometimes recipes on packages are bizarrely good. My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is on the semisweet Ghirardelli chip package.
Cucina49 recently posted..Here Comes the Sun
I think I know the recipe! That is how I find inspiration in the grocery store so many times … pictures or recipe ideas!
I’m loving that this is dairy free!! YAY!
Brittany (Delights and Delectables) recently posted..WIAW #10 Something Old, Something New
Perfect pesto!
Emily Woodhouse recently posted..RedX