March Recipe of the Month:
Vegetarian or Vegan Pesto Soup
Yields 2 cups
Ingredients:
2 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp)
3 cups of vegetable stock
3 cups of fresh broccoli
2 cups of loosely packed basil leaves
Juice of one lemon
Optional: shaved parmesan for topping
Directions:
Place olive oil in medium pot and warm. Add walnuts and onions and sauté. Add broccoli and stock and boil until broccoli is fork tender about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Carefully transfer to blender or use immersion blender. Add garlic, basil, and lemon, and blend until smooth. Add fresh basil, walnuts, olive oil, and parmesan as garnish. Another option is to use use leeks instead of onion, Drs. Eliason and Schmidt are a bit on a leek kick haha.
Dr. Schmidt tip: I have recently discovered how to make my own vegetable broth—and guys—it’s so easy and amazing! Whenever I am cutting up veggies I put all the scraps (carrot and potato peels, onion and garlic peels, stems, leaves, pretty much any scrap) into a gallon bag in the freezer. I cook with a lot of veggies so this bag filled up pretty quickly. Then I just put the contents of the bag into a pot and covered it with water, added a healthy amount of seasoning and some fresh herbs and let it simmer for a few hours. I then strained off the veggie scraps and had a beautiful, flavorful, and deep broth. I put the broth into mason jars and use it for soup, when cooking, boiling pasta or rice, etc.
Fun fact: Basil is native to the tropics in Asia and belongs to the mint family.]
Thanks Liz Moody for a great recipe! Check out her blog 🙂 lizmoody.com
Resources:
Vegetarian Pesto Soup (dairy free, vegan, paleo). Liz Moody. February 22, 2019. Lizmoody.com. Accessed on 03/06/2019. https://www.lizmoody.com/vegetarian-pesto-soup-dairy-free-vegan-paleo/?fbclid=IwAR3i1P1jbgVELOY-NAzV5dVMyuQOoX7HYy9LWP5MfxjJjeu2gBbZCHXkGJs
Fun fact: https://ciaoflorentina.com/cool-facts-about-basil/
