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I feel like I should have been making soup, or stew, or chili, or some other warm, comforting food as we brace for yet another winter storm, but I was drawn to the beautiful asparagus
and green beans at the grocery store this weekend.
You know how some days, they're just there: "yea, there are the green beans."
But some days, it's: "oh my gosh - look at the green beans!!"
It was one of those days.
And this was one of those meals where I felt like I was making an obscene amount, thinking the whole time, "this could feed a small army," but then proceeded to annihilate it, and had only a very small portion left over.
Drat. That was supposed to be lunch for the week.
But, wow, was it good.
The dressing is a fresh pesto. I topped mine with non-dairy veggie shreds while my honey had shredded chicken added to his and topped with grated Parmesan. He ate it so fast, I couldn't snap a picture. Sorry.
Pesto Dressing
What you'll need:
1 cup fresh spinach
1/3 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts (or other nut, even sunflower seeds will work)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice
zest from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
Note: I did not add Parmesan cheese to the pesto dressing as we prefer to top our salads with the "cheese" of our choice, but for a traditional pesto, add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.
What you'll do:
Place all of the above (with or without the cheese) in the bowl of a food processor and process until the dressing is smooth and well combined, scraping sides as needed. Cover and place in fridge to let flavors blend while prepping the veggies.
Mixed Veggie Salad
What you'll need:
1 pound fresh asparagus
1 pound fresh green beans
3 ears of corn, trimmed from the ears or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, cooked and cooled
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
What you'll do:
Trim and cut green beans into manageable pieces. Place in boiling water and cook until tender crisp, about 4-5 minutes. Drain and place in large bowl. Cover with ice water to cool and keep the bright green color.
Chop off woody ends of asparagus and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces Cook in small amount of boiling water until tender crisp. (I always add the stalks in first and cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add the tops and cook for another minute more.) Drain and add to bowl of green beans and ice water.
Once veggies have cooled, drain and place in large bowl. Add corn kernels, carrot, and red pepper.
Carefully stir, folding in the pesto dressing to coat evenly. Add cooked shredded chicken and / or top with "cheese" as desired. (Pictured below topped with mozzarella flavored Veggie Shreds.)
Yum.