It’s been a bit gloomy in Minneapolis the last few days and this is one of the first weekends in awhile that has been sans sunshine. I am not a huge fan of gloomy weather but it does sort of force you to just take it easy and chill. This weekend has been spent hanging around with my little guy and working on a few things for the blog while he is napping. While I have been catching up my hubby has been hard at work on home projects. I have not shared previously but we moved from a loft that we lived in for 7 years into a home almost 2 years ago. We both love a more modern, eclectic aesthetic so when we ended up purchasing a home build in 1924 with lots of wood we got fast to work putting a modern spin on it and making it our own. We worked like crazy for the first few months we lived here to do everything on the main floor minus the kitchen (a much larger future project), as well as most of the upstairs. We took a break but are back at it designing our dream in home gym and office. I am thinking of adding a section to the blog to share all of our home projects and some before and afters. I have been really thinking about working toward more of a lifestyle blog vs. just food and health. I have so many passions besides just cooking and healthy living that I would like to start sharing some of those things as well. Let me know what you guys think.
Now for a little health update. As you know I have continually been dealing with an iritis flare. Things are sort of is status quo right now as I wait to go back to the Mayo Clinic at the end of August. My appointment happens to be on my birthday! Not the way I wanted to spend my birthday but I’m just blessed they could get me in with an iritis specialist in the next few weeks. I will be meeting with a new doctor who will work with my rheumatologist to determine the best course of treatment. At this point I am just taking the time to continue researching so I know what questions to ask. I am also really working on my stress levels. Work is going to be a bit crazy the next few weeks so I am making sure that I am getting my workouts in which I have found to be the biggest stress reliever for me. Some people need their quite time, but for me, the more active I am the better I seem to keep things under control.
On to the recipe! I have been really into pesto this summer. Pesto is so versatile and even though traditional pesto is made with cheese you definitely will not miss the dairy once you try it without. If you miss the cheesy flavor throwing in a little nutritional yeast will give you a similar flavor. You can also make it with or without nuts depending on your diet preference. We typically have an autoimmune protocol compliant version and one with nuts in our fridge at all times. I love having some sort of green topping for salads, proteins and veggies. It’s such a great way to get in extra nutrients. This Dandelion Walnut Pesto uses dandelion greens which have a slight bitter flavor and are a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals. They are high in calcium, iron, and loaded with antioxidants and are also great for cleansing the liver and controlling inflammation. If you have not tried them buy some this week. I think you will love them. Enjoy!
- 1 bunch dandelion greens
- ¼ cup basil leaves
- ½ cup raw walnuts
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
- juice from ½ lemon
- 2 garlic cloves
- Optional: 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- Wash dandelion greens and remove leaves from stems.
- Place dandelion greens, basil leaves, walnuts, olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice, galric cloves and optional nutritional yeast in a food processor and process on high to desired consistency. Less time will give you a chunckier pesto, more time will give you a smoother pesto.