Kale Pesto

 I always try to incorporate different "good-for-you" produce and products. Kale is one of them and was on my "waiting list" for awhile. So far I could not find any satisfactory enough recipe for it but recently come across one recipe that have potential to stay for a longer in my kitchen. With some tweaks and substitutions I come up with the pesto recipe below. Cooked garlic and onion give smooth flavor and taste to this pesto. Also I like the idea to just blanch kale shortly versus cooking it for some time as other recipes suggest. Regarding presentation and color of this paste - look yourself at the pictures below. Oh, I didn't mention that it tastes really good and can be used in various ways - in pasta, on a sandwiches, on a pizza, as a filling (see my ...) and so on.

KALE PESTO

Makes 4 cups of pesto

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of kale, washed, stems removed

1 cup whole almonds

7 cloves garlic, peeled

2 medium onions

juice and zest of 1 small lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 fresh poblano peppers (optional), cut in half and cleaned from seeds

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2/3 cup olive oil

- Roast your whole almonds (I used toaster-oven) for about 20-30 minutes on a medium heat until beige in color inside.

- Meanwhile, in a boiling water, cook kale for a 20-30 seconds. Remove it from a water onto a large plate. Let it cool down.

- In the same water cook whole onions, poblano pepper and whole garlic cloves for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from water. Do not discard the water - you can use it to cook your pasta for example.

- Zest and then juice out your lemon - I like to use  my handheld juicer for it. 

- Make sure your ingredients are cooled down and process all of them until desired consistency achieved. I made it somewhat chunky. You may want to add olive oil as a last ingredient, in a very slow stream to get more smooth and creamy pesto, although I found it not necessary.

- Enjoy and feel good about eating healthy stuff!