Skip to main content

Moroccan Pesto

Geez, it's really tough to have a truly original concept.

I can't tell you how many times I have thought I had that million dollar idea only to find that someone else had already thought of it.

Apparently there IS already a hands-free breast pump for nursing moms.

The family-friendly coffee shop aimed at parents with young children that I fantasized about opening for years was actually put to the test by someone in the Junction neighbourhood of Toronto...and it lasted about a year before going out of business.

Years ago when I came up with my Asian pesto recipe, I seriously thought I deserved a James Beard award. "What creativity, what brilliance, what deliciousness", I thought. Then I saw "Asian pesto" on a restaurant menu. I was crushed.

So when I came up with this one, I immediately Googled and...found a lot of Moroccan pesto recipes. All were similar, made up of varying amounts of fresh mint, cilantro, lemon, olive oil and garlic. A few also had almonds. Oh well, I am sure these are all good, but I smugly promise that my recipe is still unique...and better. I chose to balance the sour of the lemon with some sundried tomatoes and pomegranate molasses.

The result is nothing short of brilliant. I mixed half of the recipe into some quinoa, along with a can of chickpeas and some roasted zucchini and red bell peppers but this would be stellar on lamb, fish or chicken. Or you could mix it into yogurt for a dip for veggies or pita chips. It would even work as a sandwich spread, maybe with some hummus, or feta cheese along with fresh cucumber and tomato.

Use it any way your heart desires. Be creative, be daring, be original!

Bunch fresh cilantro
Bunch fresh mint
Bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
Large chunk fresh ginger, peeled, cut into 4 pieces
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, in oil or rehydrated
Juice and zest of 1 large or 2 small lemons
2 tbls pomegranate molasses (or honey or agave syrup)
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil (or more)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp or more kosher salt, to taste
Pinch of cayenne, to taste (optional)

Carefully wash fresh herbs and remove any tough stems. Add nuts, ginger, garlic, and sundried tomatoes into food processor and process until finely chopped. Add in herbs a few handfuls at a time, scrapping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add remaining ingredients, adding addition oil if necessary, depending on desired consistency. Will keep in refrigerator for few days. Freeze remaining pesto.*

*Try freezing in ice cube trays and then storing pesto cubes in a sealed bag. This allows you to access desired amount and defrost as needed.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The A to Z of Children's Health

Hey there, welcome to Monday!  We had a delightful, relatively quiet weekend.  How was yours?  Hopefully no one in your home was sick...there is a lot of nasty stuff going around these days. If you're a parent, than you have probably spent far more time that you would like to desperately searching Google and/or parenting books trying to figure out if your child's rash, cough or fever warrants a trip to the doctor or if there is something that can be done to treat it.  It's hard not to worry that it could be something more ominous that just an every day infection and while you'd make yourself (and everyone around you) nuts if you panicked every time your kid has the sniffles, as a parent, you naturally want to do everything in your power to prevent your child from harm. Recently I was sent The A to Z of Children's Health , written by doctors Jeremy Friedman, Natasha Saunders, and Norman Saunders, of Toronto's very own Hospital for Sick Children .  One of th

How to Look Like a Celebrity

Okay, I know you're going to be interested in this post! I am sure virtually every woman in North America has wondered how Hollywood celebrities achieve such 'perfect' bodies.  Well, at CAN FIT PRO last week, one of Hollywood's top fitness trainers, Eric the Trainer , was there to tell us fitness professionals the secrets! Eric the Trainer, gave several presentations, and I caught the one on Celebrity Secrets, and it was most interesting!!!  I also found some of what he said rather disturbing. First off, he was very upfront about the fact that celebrities come to him for improve their appearance.  Not to improve their health or athletic performance.  To look their best.  He admitted that his approach then, is entirely dedicated to that end. Male and female celebrities are trained in completely different ways because Hollywood wants women to be lithe and thin and in his words, "look like they dropped out of heaven looking this way without every having ste

Blackfly Coolers: Product Review

Summer is over! Well, at least if you're a student. Officially it doesn't end for a few weeks, and it certainly still feels like summer. Yeah, I hate it. This f*cking hot, humid weather needs to end NOW! We made the most of our last weekend of the summer with our annual trip to the CNE on Friday, with a crowd of friends. It wasn't unbearably lot, thank goodness, and the girls and their friends had a blast on the rides.  Saturday I had to work, and Sunday was errand day. Monday we took the girls berry/apple/pear picking but didn't last long due to the heat. I organized the house to prepare for the construction workers starting back up yesterday, while Adam took the girls for a swim in our neighbourhood pool. Yesterday was the first day of school. Grade 2 and Grade 5. Yep, the girls are growing up.  We are fortunate that the girls don't have much anxiety about school, they are so much more confident than I ever was as a kid! But now, in the midst of our reno ch