Pesto

Pesto is just about the easiest thing to make if you have a food processor – dump all of the ingredients in the bowl, hit pulse for a couple minutes and VIOLA!   Done!  Yet… for some reason, I don’t make it more often.  I think it’s because, until recently, basil in bulk was pricey and hard to find.  Pesto was something my mom used to make – I don’t remember having it, but I know she loved it (I don’t think I was a fan when I was younger… but those taste buds of mine have matured a bit).  Now I love it too!  Until such time as our new basil plants get a little bigger, Market Basket helps me out by selling a big bag of basil and it’s not that expensive.

• ½ cup pine nuts
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 3 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a food processor or blender, blend together basil, nuts, garlic, and cheese.
2. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing, and then add in salt and pepper.
3. Scrape down the sides and pulse once more to make sure it's well-blended.

Adapted from Gimme Some Oven Blog

Garlic-Mexican Crema Dressing

Sunday night… didn’t really have much of a lunch today – kind of napped through it.  After dropping off the kids, I came home to my lovely husband making big salads.  He wanted to add a side of leftover turkey and pasta, however I had other leftover ideas in mind.  I wanted my big salad to have some of the leftover taco meat on it.  Add a little spicy cheese, add a little guacamole, add a little salsa… it was wrapping up to be a fantastic dinner.  Just needed to figure out what kind of dressing to put on it, but keeping it healthy.  About two months ago, I had found a recipe on Pinterest for a Chopped Salad with this Garlic-Mexican Cream Dressing.  I kept it on my desktop meaning to make it for weeks, even having bought the Mexican crema.  Finally, tonight, I realized this BIG SALAD would be PERFECT.  I made a simple substitution – Greek yogurt for a mayonnaise.   It was delicious on top of my taco salad!

• ½ cup Mexican crema
• ½ cup yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 3 Tbsp. Hood Fat Free Smart Milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together the Mexican crema, yogurt, minced garlic, salt, and ground black pepper in a small bowl.
2. Stir in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

Adapted from La Cocina de Leslie blog

Nutritional Data Calculated from MyFitnessPal:

Factored using the salt called for in the original recipe (1 tsp.), but in the future, I would reduce by half -- therefore the sodium should be only 210.