I love a good pesto and I really love that the ingredients are all so good for you!

The ones in the supermarket are mostly based on vegetable oils.

These are not so good and will often be cheap oils that are quite inflammatory to our bodies.
A good homemade pesto is so quick and easy to whip up and you can base it on olive oil, which is much better for you.

So I call this one a ‘perfect protein pesto’ because of the combination of nuts and seeds. You may have heard of amino acids? They are the molecules that make up protein. Protein foods contain a blend of some essential and non-essential amino acids. Plant food doesn’t contain ALL of these amino acids like meat based protein does.

But guess what? Combine nuts (which have some of the amino acids) and seeds (which have the others) and you have a complete protein just like you would in a piece of steak or chicken.

So in this pesto we have almonds and pepitas making up our complete protein!

Protein is the next main component of our body, after water, and runs every signal and function in our body. Without protein, we do not have the means for our cells to communicate, turn on hormone switches and turn them back off again or build the very foundation of all cells in our body.

So adding protein to your meals is a good idea!

I have used basil as my herb but I have made this with coriander and it is equally nice and a good one to substitute if you are working on chelation or heavy metal detoxing. as coriander has this action.

I just really love basil in a pesto though and it goes with so many dishes.

Some health benefits of basil are –

• high in vitamin K which helps prevent blood clotting
• high in vitamin A which contains beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant
• contains iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, vitamin C and potassium
• contains flavanoids and volatile oils which are anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory

3 BIG handfuls of basil or a whole bunch (around 50 grams)
1 large garlic clove (10 grams)
1/4 cup raw almonds (25 grams)
1/4 cup pepitas (25 grams)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
40 grams of pecorino or good quality parmesan (omit and replace with 30 grams of extra olive oil for dairy free version)
1/2 cup extra virgin cold pressed olive oil (60 grams)
2 big pinches of good quality salt

Method

Add all ingredients to and whizz up in high powered blender, thermie or food processor. Store in glass container in fridge and it will keep for up to a week.

I love using pesto as a dip, a spread and dolloping on top of soups and meat. I also mix it with more oil and make it into a dressing for steamed veggies.

Are you a pesto fan?

Yours in health,

Alisha 

I love a good pesto and I really love that the ingredients are all so good for you!

The ones in the supermarket are mostly based on vegetable oils.

These are not so good and will often be cheap oils that are quite inflammatory to our bodies.
A good homemade pesto is so quick and easy to whip up and you can base it on olive oil, which is much better for you.

So I call this one a ‘perfect protein pesto’ because of the combination of nuts and seeds. You may have heard of amino acids? They are the molecules that make up protein. Protein foods contain a blend of some essential and non-essential amino acids. Plant food doesn’t contain ALL of these amino acids like meat based protein does.

But guess what? Combine nuts (which have some of the amino acids) and seeds (which have the others) and you have a complete protein just like you would in a piece of steak or chicken.

So in this pesto we have almonds and pepitas making up our complete protein!

Protein is the next main component of our body, after water, and runs every signal and function in our body. Without protein, we do not have the means for our cells to communicate, turn on hormone switches and turn them back off again or build the very foundation of all cells in our body.

So adding protein to your meals is a good idea!

I have used basil as my herb but I have made this with coriander and it is equally nice and a good one to substitute if you are working on chelation or heavy metal detoxing. as coriander has this action.

I just really love basil in a pesto though and it goes with so many dishes.

Some health benefits of basil are –

• high in vitamin K which helps prevent blood clotting
• high in vitamin A which contains beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant
• contains iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, vitamin C and potassium
• contains flavanoids and volatile oils which are anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory

3 BIG handfuls of basil or a whole bunch (around 50 grams)
1 large garlic clove (10 grams)
1/4 cup raw almonds (25 grams)
1/4 cup pepitas (25 grams)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
40 grams of pecorino or good quality parmesan (omit and replace with 30 grams of extra olive oil for dairy free version)
1/2 cup extra virgin cold pressed olive oil (60 grams)
2 big pinches of good quality salt

Method

Add all ingredients to and whizz up in high powered blender, thermie or food processor. Store in glass container in fridge and it will keep for up to a week.

I love using pesto as a dip, a spread and dolloping on top of soups and meat. I also mix it with more oil and make it into a dressing for steamed veggies.

Are you a pesto fan?

Yours in health,

Alisha