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Adaptable Pesto Sauce (Vegan + Gluten-Free)

Filed Under: Recipes By Beth Godbee September 7, 2018 7 Comments

This summer, as I’ve been working to change my relationship with sugar, I’ve also been trying to eat more greens. I’m preparing lots of green smoothies; growing basil and mint indoors; and learning to make sauces from spinach, kale, and chard.

Many of these sauces are adaptations of pesto, thinned with water to make more of a dressing or dip than the typically thick and oily spread. I call this “adaptable pesto sauce,” because there are many ways to prepare it and because I’ve come to this recipe through studying variations on vegan pesto.

The idea is to combine the following ingredients (all of which can be adapted to what’s on hand) in a Vitamix or another high-powered blender.

Ingredients:

  • Greens—approx. 5 cups of any combination of basil, spinach, kale, swiss chard, or the tops of carrots or beets
  • Walnuts— 1/2 cup
  • Water—1/3 cup
  • Olive oil—1/3 cup
  • Lemon—juice of 1 small lemon (~2 to 3 tablespoons)
  • Garlic—6 bulbs (more or less, depending on how much you like garlic :-))
  • Salt—1+ teaspoon (to taste)
  • Pepper—1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon (to taste)
From left to right appears a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a large basil plant, a bag of raw walnut pieces, black pepper and sea salt shakers, two full lemons, a package of pre-washed baby spinach, and a bag of peeled garlic.
View of my kitchen window, where several basil plants are planted in a single yellow pot, centered on the window sill looking outward to a parking lot, green bushes, and blue sky.
A green sauce appears in a Vitamix (high-powered blender) with peeled garlic and a full lemon sitting nearby, ready to be added if any additional flavors are desired.
Green pesto sauce appears in a clear glass container against a black table top.

I appreciate that this recipe is simple, taking no more than 10 minutes to gather and combine ingredients. I appreciate that it helps with achieving my goal of eating veggies as at least half of every meal. I appreciate, too, that I can eat a single batch for several days.

To illustrate, with the serving shown here, I ended up with three distinct meals:

(1) Adaptable pesto sauce became the focus on this dinner with roasted mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, crackers, and sliced peaches all as options for dipping.

On a blue plate appears a large serving of green pesto sauce (in the front) with sliced peaches, rice crackers, roasted mushrooms, and a mix of orange and purple carrots and yellow-white potatoes.

(2) The next day I served the sauce with carrot and celery sticks and two veggie burgers topped with slices of avocado.

Two veggie burgers topped with slices of avocado appear on a blue plate, along with carrot and celery sticks and pesto dipping sauce.

(3) What remained I used in a pasta casserole, drizzling the sauce over a layer of kale and textured vegetable protein (TVP), which topped a layer of gluten-free rotini (spiral pasta). After repeating these layers, I topped the casserole with Follow Your Heart vegan cheeze and baked for approximately an hour at 400 degrees.

View into a casserole being made. A top layer of drizzled pesto sauce is visible over a layer of kale and textured vegetable protein (TVP) over a layer of spiral pasta. These layers are held within a glass casserole dish, which sits on a black surface (kitchen table).
A serving of casserole (pasta, kale, and pesto) is centered on a blue plate.

These three meals are only a few I’ve created with this adaptable pesto sauce, as it’s becoming a familiar friend.

And as a friend, vegan pesto reminds me of the connections between self-care and community care, between fueling the self and fueling the long haul toward justice. It’s not by accident that this recipe and all on this blog are vegan. What we eat impacts not only ourselves but also other humans, non-human animals, and the earth.

Small actions matter.

Finding joy in food matters.

Loving ourselves, even a little bit better, matters.

Adaptable pesto sauce isn’t a cure-all, but may it bring about more healing. May it help with building healthy relationships with food and with linking creativity and commitment.

—
This post is written by Beth Godbee for Heart-Head-Hands.com. For more posts like this one, you might try “Roasted Veggies with Tahini Sauce: Linking Creativity and Self-Care,” “Three Chocolate Smoothies for Fueling the Road Ahead,” and other vegan + gluten-free recipes. Please also consider following the blog via email. Thanks!

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Tagged with: community care, environmental justice, gluten-free, habits, healing, mindful eating, refined sugar-free, self-care, soy-free, vegan

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kirsty Bell

    September 11, 2018 at 1:12 am

    This sounds so delicious. I will definitely be giving it a go. I love that it involves so many great elements and fresh produce.

    Reply
  2. Lo at Large

    September 11, 2018 at 5:14 am

    Wowieee! This sounds soooo wonderfully scrumptious! I will definitely try this!
    Much love,
    Lo

    Reply
  3. simplyshannonagins

    September 11, 2018 at 5:24 am

    I truly think everyone needs to know how to make a good pesto, and this one sounds delicious!

    Reply
  4. Paul Eyers

    September 26, 2018 at 6:16 am

    This sounds and look delicious and healthy. We’ve bee making a moringa and kale pesto here in Cambodia that is super healthy!

    Reply
  5. veryveganval

    September 28, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    I love a good pesto, thanks for this wonderful guide! As well as switching up the greens, I sometimes like to change the walnuts to pecans, sunflower seeds, cashews (etc).

    Reply
  6. lmoliva88

    October 8, 2018 at 10:49 pm

    I’ve surprisingly never made pesto before, but I’ll have to give this one a go! Looks great!

    Reply
    • Beth Godbee

      October 8, 2018 at 11:02 pm

      Thanks! I hope you enjoy. 🧡

      Reply

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