Homemade Pesto – Basil & Spinach

Homemade Pesto – Basil & Spinach

I use basil and spinach leaves in mine with walnuts, pine nuts, a fresh block of Parmesan-Reggiano cut up into chunks, 3-6 cloves of garlic, kosher salt and fresh course ground black pepper to taste and a good olive oil.  Everything is done by sight and taste.

I place the spinach and basil leaves in the food processor, then layer on the nuts, garlic and chunks of cheese along with some of the kosher salt and pepper.  I press pulse a few times until everything has a course chop on it.  Then I start to add in the olive oil.  If needed I add additional salt and pepper to taste.

When done I place some of the pesto mixture in a few small mason jars and drizzle on some olive oil to keep it fresh and air tight.  One jar goes into the refrigerator and the others go into the freezer.

It’s great for spreading on bread to make a toasted cheese sandwich with fresh spinach leaves, for a dip, on pasta, on Naan bread, for a pizza sauce or any thing else you can think of.

Healthy & Easy to Prepare Recipes

Here are a couple more easy things that I make.  They taste great, are easy to prepare and are in the category of good, healthy eating.

The slaw in this taco recipe has been changed from some of the other I have posted.  I added a few more ingredients.

Shredded Chicken Tacos with Slaw – Grilled chicken shredded on a small flour tortilla with a slaw.  The slaw is a modified version of the recipe in Thug Kitchen.  Shredded multi-color cabbage, carrot, radish, cilantro, Gala apple, lime juice, rice vinegar, olive oil sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

My Easy Chicken Vegetable Soup with Barley – Grill or boil chicken then shred.  In a stock pot (5-6 quart size minimum) pour 1 carton of salt free chicken stock, 1 carton of low sodium chicken broth, 1 bag frozen soup vegetables, 1 bag frozen stew vegetables, a pinch of sea salt, a little fresh ground pepper and some diced garlic.  Bring to a boil; add as much barley as you like, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or until barley is done.  Add cooked shredded chicken, stir and then eat!

Eating Healthy

Eating Healthy - I've been cooking at home for most of my adult life.  Here are a few of my creations or recreations of food from restaurants –

Broiled Vegetables with a little olive oil drizzle and a pinch of sea salt and pepper.

Salmon Tacos with Lime and Cilantro Slaw (rice vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, salt and cilantro from Thug Kitchen).

Home Made - Sweet Potato Dog Chews / Treats / Jerky

Home Made - Sweet Potato Dog Chews / Treats / Jerky

Call them what you will, chews, treats or jerky, they are all edible and you dog will love when you make them at home.  And the fiber and protein in sweet potatoes is good for them.  You can make these in the oven or by using a dehydrator.

Oven method –

• To get started purchase two nice long, as straight as you can find, fresh sweet potatoes.  This will make a nice sized batch to test out your skills.

• Preheat oven to 250˚

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

• Wash and scrub them clean, then dry them.  Make sure there is no mold on them.

• Cut off one side of the sweet potato lengthwise, as close to the edge as possible.  This will make a nice flat side to place downward for stable slicing.  Cut the sweet potatoes into slices about 1/4 “ to 1/3” thick.

• Place them on the prepared baking sheet.

• Bake for about 3 hours, turning halfway through.   This will make them chewy and if you want more crunch add about 20-30 minutes.

• Cool completely on a wire rack.

• They should store in your refrigerator in a zipper bag for about 3 weeks, if they last that long.  They can be kept frozen for about 4 months.

Dehydrator method -

• To get started purchase two nice long, as straight as you can find, fresh sweet potatoes.  This will make a nice sized batch to test out your skills.

• Wash and scrub them clean, then dry them.  Make sure there is no mold on them.

• Cut off one side of the sweet potato lengthwise, as close to the edge as possible.  This will make a nice flat side to place downward for stable slicing.   

• Follow your dehydrators instructions for spacing.

• Dehydrate at a setting of about 145-155 until done.  Drying should take about 6-8 hours for a chewy texture.  For a crunchier texture dry out longer.

Big dogs will love these as is, but for small dogs you might want to tear them into smaller pieces after they are dried out.

Adapted from many recipes/articles I have read and recipes tried using both methods.

© 2014 Gregory Jevyak