Spring is for green food. I mean, hopefully every day has something green, but the spring is especially the time for green food. My husband is allergic to basil, but in a truly amazing twist of fate, he is not allergic to pine nuts! Most of his allergies strike us as a great and winding mystery, but in this case, it’s so surprising that pine nuts are safe. Here comes the need for a kale pesto! It’s not entirely unfamiliar and has a very clean flavour.
Makes 2 cups
1 bunch curly kale, stems removed
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, or less
Salt, to taste
Clean up your kale by removing the thick stems and washing it. I generally run my hand along the stem and pull it towards me. Toast the pine nuts in a skillet over medium, being careful not to burn them; you just want a little colour. Combine the kale, pine nuts and nutritional yeast in a food processor and pulse a few times to start breaking the kale down. Add the lemon juice, a sprinkle of salt and turn the processor on. Slowly add the olive oil and blend until the mixture is smooth and (!!) pesto-like. Taste and adjust the seasoning as you like. Serve on anything.
