Spicy Arugula and Almond Pesto

 From Annie Fenn, M.D.  The Brain Health Kitchen: Preventing Alzheimer’s Through Food

“A good way to eat leafy greens, along with other neuroprotective foods, like nuts, seeds, garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil.  Go beyond pasta and enjoy pesto dolloped on soup, folded into scrambled eggs, and stirred into whole grains like quinoa and farro.”  Page 105  She also recommends stirring into cashew cream to use as ‘mayo’ on a roasted vegetable sandwich.  “The nutritional yeast tastes nutty and salty, like many cheeses, but is dairy-free.  It adds a rich umami flavor to foods, thanks to its glutamate content, along with a good dose of important brain health nutrients: selenium, folic acid, and B vitamins. “

I served this as an appetizer, spooned onto Campari tomatoes cut in half.  For that purpose, use only 1/3 cup to start, then add more for the consistency you want.  For pasta sauce, probably more oil would be better.  I’ve made similar pestos with other greens, including carrot tops.  I’ve used a combination of arugula, basil, cilantro, mint.  I’ve also used other nuts.  Anything goes!  It’s a great way to use up odds and ends of herb supplies.  Another great use is making homemade stock to use for other soups.  In the freezer, I collect a large bag full of leftover ends of carrots, onions, ginger, lemon, etc.  And when it’s full, I boil up a pot of water with all of these veggies, maybe 45 minutes or so, and then use it as the broth for my next batch of soup. 

INGREDIENTS:

4 loosely packed cups of arugula

1 cup almonds, toasted and cooled (or TJs already roasted)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast 

1 Tbsp lemon zest

2 large garlic cloves

1 small serrano chile, seeds and stem removed

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/3 - 1 cup EVOO

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients except the oil in a food processor.  Pulse until you have a chunky mixture, 1-2 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Slowly pour the oil over the pesto while pulsing until uniformly green with small bits of nuts visible.  Add more oil if you like, for a thinner, sauce-like consistency.  

Use on pasta, Campari tomato halves …