It’s called farm-share fever and there is but one way to treat it.
How dramatic. The truth is, there are several completely luscious ways to treat it. This power-packed salad featuring just-picked salad greens with spinach arugula pesto is just one of them.
This pesto just…happened, completely fueled by Facebook power. I posted a picture of my first farm-share delivery, and my pal, Shanna, commented about how delicious everything looked. I did what any friend would do: I made her come over and help me make lunch with it 🙂
And, by “made her” I mean….well let’s just say she was already in the driveway before I finished typing “Yes” to her “Are you serious?” when I suggested she join me 🙂
Spontaneous lunch date! Yahoo! Here I was, surrounded by more booty than my family will ever get through in one week – huge piles of salad greens, spinach, arugula, and bok choy, with radishes and scallions coming out my ears. The next thing I know, we’re chatting away while washing arugula, tearing spinach, toasting walnuts, and grating Asiago cheese. Oh, and dashing up the path to my mum’s house to borrow lemon juice. If you are keeping track, that’s about the gazillionth time I’ve run up to borrow a critical ingredient. Since Friday. God bless my mumma!
A little while later, we were sitting down to an amazing, taste-popping, buttery salad. That’s what Shanna kept saying — buttery — and I have to agree. The pesto was creamy and smooth, and the perfect dressing for the salad greens and the red and white radishes we sliced up. Everything was just so fresh, I swear we could feel the vitamins and antioxidants coursing through our bodies.
In case you’re wondering, pesto is one of those foods where you can mess with the recipe in a lot of fun ways. Basil, of course, is the green people think of when they hear pesto, but here we used spinach and arugula, though kale, collard greens, or Swiss chard could work as well. Parmesan, Asiago, Cheddar or other hard cheese all fair game. While pine nuts are the usual go-to nut for pesto, walnuts are great here, as well as in my Spinach Walnut Pesto. I’m certain pistachios, cashews, or almonds would be just as fabulous.
I’ve only ever made pesto in a food processor, but have seen other recipes that use a blender. If you got 15 minutes, and any combination of the above ingredients, just go for it!
Salad Greens with Spinach Arugula Pesto
Makes 2 salads
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: Zero
3 cups torn spinach, lightly packed
1 cup torn arugula, lightly packed
1/2 cup walnuts
3-4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup grated Asiago cheese
salt, to taste
6 cups salad greens, washed and dried
In a non-stick pan over medium heat, toast the walnuts until lightly browned. Remove from heat.
Put the spinach, arugula, lemon juice, and walnuts in the bowl of the food processer. Pulse repeatedly until blended. Through the opening in the lid, slowly drizzle in the olive oil with the blade running. Continue to process until all the oil is incorporated. Remover the bowl from the processor and transfer the pesto to a mixing bowl. Stir in the cheese, and add salt to taste.
Toss the greens with 3-4 tablespoons of pesto. Divide onto two plates and serve.
Store the remaining pesto in a airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
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