Eat Your Veggies

I think I may finally be caught up on sleep after my weekend-o-health-wreckage. Thank goodness, because yesterday made for a long, rough, grouchy Monday.

Today, I started Phase 2 of Wholesome Living week: Healthy eats. And I've gotta tell you, the dinner I made tonight was so yummy that the last thing I was thinking about was it's nutritional value. {I may or may not have licked the bowl it was so good.}

This recipe was adapted from one I found on a blog called Clean Green Simple {which I highly recommend checking out as a healthful & tasty recipe resource}. The blogger, Jessica, makes all vegan recipes, but from what I've seen they're all highly interchangeable with whatever you have onhand or whatever your particular dietary restriction may be. Jessica's version used kale for the pesto, but the bunch of kale in my fridge is currently spoken for in a recipe that I'll be posting later this week, so I used spinach instead.

Can you fit anymore healthy goodness into one dish? Possibly. I still have the rest of the week to experiment. ;) But in the meantime, I hope you'll dig into this one.

Basil, Walnut & Spinach Pesto Pasta
adapted from Clean Green Simple

You'll Need:

• 1 lb quinoa pasta (or any pasta, really)
• 4-7 cloves garlic, minced (I just grated it on my microplane)
• 2 cups fresh basil
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 3/4 cups unsalted walnuts, lightly toasted
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2/3 c. water (I found I needed just a splash more to get things moving in the blender)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 bunch asparagus, stems removed, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add onion mixture to food processor or blender.

3. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat and add asparagus. Heat the asparagus for 4-6 minutes until tender crisp.

4. While asparagus cooks, add water, salt, spinach, basil, and toasted walnuts to blender or food processor and blend until smooth, drizzling a steady stream of olive oil while the blender runs. {I'm not entirely sure how much I added, probably about 1/4 cup, just enough to get everything moving smoothly in the blender.} Taste and season accordingly.

5. When asparagus is ready, combine all ingredients, including halved cherry tomatoes in pasta pot or large bowl and toss together gently.

I sprinkled a tiny bit of parmesan on the top, but truthfully, it didn't even need it. Enjoy your veggies!