Photo by Ann Oliverio
The Easy Vegan Cookbook is coming out September 1 and I could not be more excited! It’s full of plant-strong, vegan recipes. They are quick and easy enough for weeknight dinners and are still good enough to serve company.
I tend to be an overachiever. The word “easy” often makes me feel like I’m not doing enough. But there’s a time to be reasonable and making dinner every night is a good place to start.
Ann Olivero did all the photos including the beautiful one of the split pea soup on the cover. She’s the founder of the Virtual Vegan Potluck and her first cookbook came out earlier this year called Crave Eat Heal.
There’s nothing better than a quick and easy dinner. Well, except for one that’s rich and delicious too! This Easy Avocado Lemon Basil Pesto is one of my favorites from my new book and is one of the easiest of the bunch!
Don’t let the specialty basil intimidate you. If you don’t have lemon basil you can use regular basil. Just add some lemon zest, extra lemon juice or another lemon herb like lemon verbena or lemon balm.
This pesto comes together in minutes, so put your pasta in the boiling water while you make the pesto in your blender. It will be ready to toss with your piping hot, perfectly cooked pasta. You’ll be out of the kitchen before it has time to get too hot!
This pesto also feels like it has a little magic in it too. It has no added oil, but is silky smooth from the pureed avocado and has a big punch of flavor from the fresh herbs. It’s amazing the flavor you can get out of just a few ingredients mixed together.
If by chance, there are any leftovers, put it in the fridge and call it pasta salad the next day and eat it for lunch.
Rating
Serves: 3 to 4 servings
- 1 medium ripe avocado
- ½ cup (12 g) fresh lemon basil
- 1 - 4 inch sprig thyme
- 1 tablespoon (3 g) fresh oregano leaves
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup (59 ml) water plus more if needed
- ½ lb (227 g) cooked whole whear angel hair pasta
- Put the avocado flesh, lemon basil, leaves only from the thyme, oregano, lemon juice, salt and water in a blender and blend well until the herbs are pureed.
- If the puree is still too thick, add 2 more tablespoons of water and blend again.
- Toss with ½ pound cooked whole wheat angel hair pasta.
The post Easy Avocado Lemon Basil Pesto from The Easy Vegan Cookbook appeared first on Healthy Slow Cooking.
