the powerhouse herb…chives!

Tags

chive artichoke pesto, chives, easy recipes, edible flowers, herb garden, nourishing herbs, pesto, quick meals

There are many presumptions regarding herbs—chives in particular.
Many see them as a garnish, and push them aside.
Yay whoa, let me share the reasons why this little herb belongs in your belly.

First off chives are:
Low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium
High in dietary fiber, vitamin A, C, K, B6, Riboflavin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper, Manganese, Thiamine, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Phosphorus, and Zinc!
So there!
Ready for a tasty, nutritious, signature recipe for chive artichoke pesto? OK!

When I bought my first patch of land back in 2001,
one of the first plants chosen for the herb garden was chives!

humble chives harvested and rinsed and ready for a spin.

edible flowers first thing in the spring!

cut rinsed and spun chives into 2″ lengths–easier for the processor to handle

drain and rinse canned water-packed artichokes

Rinse and spin equal amounts of curly parsley and pack the bowl of your processor with equal portions of chives and parsley. Top with one cup of raw walnuts, cup of drained artichokes, 1 rounded teaspoon kosher salt, juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon, and 6 glugs of virgin olive oil. Process until smooth, scraping bowl a couple of times during processing. FYI, a glug is a free pour out of a spouted olive oil bottle, counting up to six as you pour. My food processor bowl is 7 cup size, so make allowances if yours is larger…

finished pesto divvied up into 8 OZ deli containers, ready for chill down, then freezer for up to six months. By the way one 8 OZ container dresses one pound of pasta beautifully–just add a touch of hot pasta water, 2 T sweet butter and pepper of choice.

You may be saying, “where’s the cheese?” Most of my pestos are sold, therefore
I do not add cheese now as it does not freeze well and many of my patrons are lactose intolerant.
Cheese may be added when preparing pasta or when using as a spread in a sandwich.
When using this pesto for the base of pizza crust, no cheese is necessary.

after processing all the herbs, if you have a bit of pesto, say 3/4 cup, left over in the processor, add a peeled, seeded ripe avocado, spin then use as a dip! Deelish!

Have I convinced you to grow/eat chives?
As I frequently say, “there is more to life than basil pesto!”

Copyright © 2013 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

why not kale…pesto?

Tags

Charlottesville City Market, chive flowers, easy recipes, farmer's market, fast food, food, Home Depot, kale, pesto, stretch gardening, vegetarian

Readers who follow my blog know I adore kale.

an earlier pasta dish with blanched kale and chive flowers. If you have gone Keto, substitute spiral veggies for pasta.

Truly, I eat kale every day—fall and winter—steamed for four minutes, drizzled with olive oil and often topped with two farm raised eggs, easy over. Adding variety to this super-food, I decided to make one of my favorite dishes—pesto.
Why not kale pesto?
Indeed, this dish will knock your socks off.

Diane’s Recipe for Fresh Kale Pesto

Find a large bunch of fresh curly kale, either from your garden or from a local farmer. Strip the leaves off the vein and tear leaves into pieces. Rinse kale, while bringing a pot of water to a boil. In a large bowl, add cold water and a few scoops of ice cubes. Set this bowl near the pot of boiling water. When water is boiling, add kale in batches and blanch for 30-45 seconds, or until kale is bright green. Using a spider, lift blanched kale out and plunge into the bowl of ice water. Repeat process until all kale is blanched and iced.

fresh from the local grower, Whisper Hill Farm ~ 9 stems

ice bath

blanching kale until bright green ~ 30-45 seconds

ice kale to stop cooking

squeeze water out of kale using hands

almond and pecan stash ~ always store nuts either in the fridge or freezer

Squeeze iced kale with hands and place all kale into the bowl of a food processor. Add 1/4 C sliced almonds, 1/4 C pecans, 1 t. Himalayan salt, black pepper to taste, 1/2 C virgin olive oil, juice from a whole fresh lime (I use a citrus press), and pulse entire contents, scraping sides of bowl a few times during processing. Add additional olive oil until smooth consistency is achieved.

kale pesto fully processed

Meanwhile, boil your favorite pasta or spiral some zucchini, reusing the blanching water. In this instance I used a combination of organic Casarecce and linguine. When pasta is al dente, remove it from the water using the spider. DO NOT RINSE. SAVE hot pasta water.

al dente Casarecce and linguine

Mix pesto into pasta or veggie noodles, adding additional olive oil and a few tablespoons of pasta water to dish until desired consistency is reached. Add a large knob (20g) of room temperature sweet butter and gently toss adding freshly grated Parmesan just before serving.

cooked pasta, knob of butter, kale pesto, toss adding additional pasta water and olive oil as needed. 

I promise this recipe will make a believer out of you. A real tasty dish that will have your friends talking. Serve with your favorite beverage and sexy tomatoes if in season. Serves 6.

If you are processing a lot of kale from your gardens in spring, simply place pesto into 8 oz. containers and freeze. Omit the cheese until consuming.

completed dish doused with fresh Parmesan

PS I adore pesto and make three signature pestos from home-grown herbs: French tarragon with pecans, chive artichoke with walnuts in the early spring, and classic basil with walnuts during the summer months. Those recipes may be found by typing “pesto” into the search bar on this blog.

This new kale pesto rounds out my repertoire and I hope you will enjoy them all. There is more to life than basil pesto!

Bon Appetit!

Copyright © 2013 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved