Healthy, Easy Green Pesto

Greens are in abundance now. In past summers, I purchased too many greens and ultimately they went to waste.

This summer I've gotten in to the habit of creating large batches of pesto that I freeze right away. Here's a healthy, easy way to enjoy your greens...

What You Need:

• Any greens: Spinach, Swiss chard, Kale, Basil
• 1 whole organic lemon (yes, the whole lemon!)
• 3 - 4 garlic cloves or 1 - 2 TSP garlic powder
• olive oil
• 1/2 - 1 cup of grated Pecorino Romano (goat) or Parmigiano-Reggiano (cow) cheese
  

Clean and rinse the greens in a salad spinner. Fill a food processor with your greens, turn it on and gradually add enough olive oil till the greens turn a thick paste, slice your lemon in half and drop it down the chute, then add enough garlic and cheese to taste. Delicious!

Make extra batches for friends - or freeze and enjoy during winter months!What to do with It:

• Spread it on whole grain bread with kalamata olives, artichokes or sundried tomatoes and broil in the oven
• Serve with whole grain pasta, garnish with pine nuts or walnuts

If you're still buying greens this time of year from a big supermarket, shame on you. There are tons of local farmers and markets to support. Find one near you at Local Harvest.

Victoria Boutenko wrote a great book called Green for Life. This book shares how greens play a vital role in making unhealthy individuals healthy again. It's filled with great recipes for blender drinks using greens. Borrow a copy from your local library.

Please include a comment if you have a healthy recipe for greens. I'd love to hear from you. Thank you.