HI HI HIIIIIII!

Today we're talking Pesto. Because I really love making my own pesto. BUT FIRST! In case you guys are at all interested – a quick NYC update. I think I told you that I was going to look at apartments this week. I'm SUPER happy to report that on the first day of apartment searching we found a killer steal and snatched up a beautiful 1 bedroom apartment. In three weeks I'll be a resident of the upper east side! Yes, I am freaking out of excitement. And yes, I have been staring at the city in complete awe that I'll be living here so soon.

Okay, now that that is out of the way, back to the food. PESTOOOO. I'm pretty much obsessed with making my own pesto right now. It's just soooo easy. and delicious.

This pesto is a cilantro lime pesto that I like to throw on my tacos/nachos/burritos. I've even put it on sandwiches…. I really love cilantro. Sub it in for mayo on a turkey sandwich… you'll never look at the world the same way.

The absolute BEST idea to use this pesto for is making guacamole. just pop a teaspoon (or three) into a mashed up avocado and you've got a super easy homemade guac recipe. If you're not pressed for time I'd totally mix in some chopped up red onion/tomato and really impress some friends with a Mexican extravaganza.

I feel like pesto is one of those things that seems super daunting to make but in actuality its SO easy. You really just have to pop a few ingredients into a food processor and VIOLA. you're done. just like that.

I like mixing and matching my herbs and nuts to get different flavors and textures. I'll use up any extras from herbs that I need for recipes this way. It's just so convenient. I HATE when a recipe calls for cilantro or basil and I only need like two leaves or sprigs and then the rest goes bad. its such a wasteee. wasting food hurts my heart. don't hurt my heart – make pesto!

Also the pesto freezes super well. I use my ice cube tray to freeze it. I put about a tablespoon into each cube and freeze it for a couple hours. I'll run a little warm water over the bottom of the tray to loosen the cubes and then throw them in a plastic bag!

Cilantro Lime Pesto

Author: Ashley Renee
Yield: 1 1x

Scale

Ingredients

1 bunch cilantro
1 lime
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/8 cup almonds
pinch of salt

Instructions

Remove most of the stems from the cilantro bunch and place in a food processor. Add the grapeseed oil, olive oil, almonds, salt, and garlic cloves in with the cilantro. Zest the lime over the container and add 3/4 of the juice from the lime.
Process until smooth.
If the mixture appears dry, add in more lime juice or grapeseed oil until creamy.