Arugula Dip/Pesto (Nut-Free and Paleo)

Setting aside the excitement around the holidays, I am not a winter person. Mainly because I do not like cold weather. And no matter how many sweaters and jackets I put on, I am still cold. Having my bedroom in the basement of my house probably doesn’t help either. Hmmmm…

It’s a bit pathetic, but after being outside in the cold, my dog and I plop ourselves in front of our space heater and literally sit there until I turn red. I then just turn my body over and roast my other side.

Anyway, main point is: I want summer. But until I can burrow myself out of my blankets, I’ll take summer food instead. Which is how this recipe came to be.

As we no longer have garden-fresh basil (sob), arugula made for an interesting, yet satisfying twist. And the hidden broccoli made it a filling dip as well! I highly recommend serving/bringing this to your New Years Eve party. I’m sure hibernating family members and friends will appreciate it 😉

Arugula Dip/Pesto (Nut-Free and Paleo) 

Ingredients: 

1 spear of broccoli florets (thick stems discarded)

1 cup fresh arugula, packed 

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice 

2 large garlic cloves 

1 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Place broccoli florets into a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Afterwards, drain of water and place florets in a bowl of cold water for another 5 minutes. Drain from the water again and transfer florets to a food processor. Add in the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to allow dip/pesto to cool and for flavors to set. Serve!

This year’s Sibling Christmas Pic! (I’m on the right)

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Pesto (Nut-Free and Paleo)

I bumped this pesto up to the top of my “recipes to post” list because I wanted to share it before everybody’s fresh basil dries out.

My family and I are seriously obsessed with this pesto and have been putting it on everything (my favorites so far is pairing it with hamburgers, chicken, and salmon) 

And my friend who’s allergic to nuts has even been able to enjoy it because there’s no nuts involved! (Nut-free also means it’s more readily-available to make since we don’t always have containers of raw nuts around the house). 

To give it extra volume, I add a spear of broccoli to the mix. No fears though! The broccoli goes completely undetected, providing you still with a basil-pesto taste 🙂  

Pesto (Nut-Free and Paleo) 

Ingredients: 

1 spear of broccoli florets (thick stems discarded)

2/3 cup fresh basil, loosely packed 

1 handful of fresh spinach (optional)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice 

2 large garlic cloves 

1 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Place broccoli florets into a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl of cold water to another 5 minutes. Drain out the water again and transfer florets to a food processor. Add rest of ingredients and process until smooth. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to allow pesto to cool and for flavors to set. Serve!