A few amazing things happened this week. Some of them have to do with food, others not (you will need to hold tight on those.) One amazing thing can be called to attention now. Broccoli Pesto Sauce that doubles as a dip.
Thanks to my friend Catherine McCord and her wonderful book Weelicious I now have a new favorite. Let’s learn more about this…
Meet Catherine…hi there! Not only is her cookbook awesome but she is such a great gal. I love her energy spunk and great taste. We have lots in common and we really like clean, healthy and delicious food…
Have you ever made a small life decision that impacts your world in a great way. I did just that this week.
One of the smartest moves I have made in a while: I have delegated a whole lot of school drop-offs and pick-ups to my hubs. That guarantees me more time in the kitchen to experiment with new recipes like this AMAZING Broccoli Pesto.
Have you ever made pesto sauce with broccoli? It is one of the simplest things to prepare and it offers a great flavor boost to just about everything. Of course you can use it as a pasta sauce. I love mine stirred into quinoa. How about topping a baked potato with this? I also tossed chickpeas with it, a great way to go.
By the way I have a delicious Toasted Walnut Spinach Pesto you can check out too.
Make your pesto as thin or thick as you like. I like ours on the thicker side. To thin it out simply add some more olive oil or water when blending. On the thinner side it would make a great salad dressing.
Really the sky is the limit.
This is 1 out of 140 healthy and tasty recipes that Catherine has in her book.
She uses easy to find, whole foods in her recipes. They are kid-tested, parent approved & great for you. Catherine proves that we can teach or kids to make healthy choices by introducing them to making right decisions from the beginning.
There is nothing sneaky or tricky involved.
Catherine and I (along with a lot of you) have the same mindset about providing nourishing fit-food to our families.
Kids should join in the shopping and cooking experience, they love watching processes and sequences of events.
Also having them help in the kitchen from time to time strategically sets them up to be little foodies. The less hectic weekends are a great time for this!
This book is not only for people with little kids. It is great for anyone who is trying to live a life filled with simple, budget friendly, great tasting whole foods.
There is a section on baby purées, but you can bypass that or enjoy them as a “big kid” if you don’t have littles in your house. The bulk of the book is great for anyone, any age at all!
Do you have a favorite pesto recipe? Do you go traditional with basil or do you have a special twist?
*This recipe is adapted from the Weelicous cookbook. Pesto is open to lots of creativity, have fun with it!
Click HERE for recipe details.
Pesto Recipe Links
- Cabbage Pesto carina-forum
- Kale and Basil Pesto Knead to Cook
- Pesto Lasagna Manu’s Menu
- Roasted Red Pepper Pesto with Toasted Walnuts & Goat Cheese Aida Mollenkamp
- Spaghetti with Rocket, Spinach & Pecan Pesto Simply Delicious
- Toasted Walnut Spinach Pesto MarlaMeridith.com
I love any type of pasta. Pasta = my favorite meal and I am so wanting to go home and try this broccoli pesto right now! These pictures are stunning!
What a fantastic recipe! Definitely trying it and soon!
A great pesto/sauce! I haven’t tried this version yet.
Cheers,
Rosa
Is there a substitute for the toasted walnuts?? 🙂
Hi Sarah, experiment with different nuts. Pecans and almonds would be amazing. Pistachios too. Hazelnuts could be an interesting twist. Unless of course there are nut allergies?
Yes my boyfriend has a nut allergy 🙁
Maybe replace the nuts with unsalted sunflower seeds? Or just add some extra cheese? Hmmmmm. Let me know what you come up with 🙂
I just substituted sunflower seeds for nuts in my kale pesto and it turned out great! The sunflower seeds just take a few extra minutes to grind in the food processor, but otherwise it’s an easy sub!
Awesome Pamela! You have inspired me to do the same 🙂
I am a “pesto” freak. Any veggie there is- just throw it in a pesto. I love Catherine- this is a great recipe!
Loving that cookbook and I love this recipe!
My favorite family meal is a hearty, homemade soup with crusty bread.
My fav is my mom’s spagetti!
My family’s favorite meal depends on which member you are talking to 😉 One of my children loves anything pasta-related, so I can’t wait to try this pesto!
My favorite home cooked meal is tacos!
We love homemade pizza. It’s one of the few things we eat almost weekly around here.
Meatless lasagna…even the carnivores in the fam love it 🙂
I was also intrigued by this broccoli pesto when I saw it in her book!
Thanks for featuring my kale and basil pesto! Love your site!!!
I LOVE to bake enchiladas! So yummy, and usually always have leftovers for lunch the next day. Yummy! :o)
My favorite family meal is chicken/tuna pasta salad. I make a huge bowl and my husband and I eat it for days.
My current favorite home-cooked meal is carnitas!
My mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup is such a favorite, no matter what season!
My favorite family meal is burrito and taco night. Yum
We love homemade pizza with Alfredo sauce, spinach, chicken and veggies:)
This looks really delicious! I love the idea of putting it in quinoa; I’m definitely going to try this soon. 🙂
Can’t wait to see what you come up with, Marla, now that you will have more time!
So happy to see this cookbook – Catherine has great recipes for the picky kids!
My husband would either choose the Lasagne or Chicken Enchiladas.
OH! Favorite meal would have to be anything that involves salads for me and pasta for the rest of the family.
Nothing can beat homemade spaghetti and meatballs!!
My fave is homemade lasagna.
Love everything about this post – the book, Catherine, a way to put broccoli in pasta – I mean what’s not to like there?! I rather went off traditional pesto in fear of Pine nut mouth but the use of walnuts is a great substitute – that and sourcing the pine nuts from Spain or anywhere outside China… odd I know!
Homemade from scratch pizza! There are so many variations!
My favorite home cooked family meal is spaghetti and meatballs!
I have never homemade pesto sauce but this made me want to try it! I am just getting in to cooking. Before now my husband and I haven’t been so great at eating healthy… This cookbook would be a great way to get me on the right track!
I love the idea of broccoli pesto!
My kids love pasta!
crockpot veggie curry
My favorite home cooked family meal is chili. I always make a big batch to freeze extra. We love to eat it with tortilla chips, over baked potatoes, on hot dogs, in omelettes, etc. One pot creates so many options for us =)
fave meal to cook at home is….do cookies count? 🙂
My grandmother’s fried chicken will always be my favorite.
I don’t have one favorite, I love all sorts of pasta dishes. And of course the bread that goes with it!
Spaghetti & meatballs!
My favorite home cook family meal is Stir Fry Veggies Noodles. My kids love it and they can eat that everyday.
Favorite meal at home is homemade GF lasagna. I like having leftovers for a few days afterwards!
Sounds delicious. I’ll be making this tonight! 🙂
Currently in love with creamy and evil stovetop mac and cheese. Absolutely no one complains, its quick and easy, you can dump in add-ins galore and only one pot to clean!
My favorite meal (at the moment) is anything with pasta…Italian, Asian, or even Mexican-inspired!
I love spaghetti or sloppy joe’s.
This cookbook looks great!
My favorite home cooked family meal is lasagna.
so excited to get my hands on this book! love the idea of making pesto with broccoli & can’t wait to give this a try!
I love a good roasted chicken dinner.
Love love love new ideas for kid meals!!
Every Sunday, my mom would make pasta with homemade meatballs and it’s always been my favorite meal 🙂
My favorite home cooked family meal is my mom’s chicken, she uses BBQ chips crumbs as breading on it it’s so good!
I love playing around with pesto flavors. My recent favorite is arugula pesto. I will certainly have to try broccoli as well
I think my daughter-in-law would really like this book.
Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
Looks delicious! I have some broccoli so we will be trying it today!
Looking forward to trying it!
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
I am a lover of a good pesto and I love your take on this classic. Thanks for sharing
Fresh Pasta with fresh pasta….nothing better. Well maybe chocolate 🙂
lately we have been all about beef stroganoff
I love using vegetables in my pesto. This looks so scrumptious and the photos, drool-worthy for sure 🙂
This looks so fantastically good. Yum!
This looks so fantastically good. Yum!
soup is my fav!!
This looks so good!
Spaghetti … we used gluten free noodle and made my own spaghetti sauce (so I can add and hide those green veggies 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
Yum, I have been consuming so much broccoli lately. Looks like a great book.
Our favorite family meal is a sandwich and a warm soup.
My favorite family meal is pasta and meatballs because I know my whole family will sit and eat without any complaints. My personal favorite is chicken noodle soup.
probably beef stew
Great recipes!, I hope you will find the time to vist http://www.giangiskitchen.com as I ahve nominated you for the “Lovely Blog Award”. Thank you, Giangi
Our favorite family meal right now is a quick crockpot pot roast with potatoes. It is perfect for winter and an easy meal for mom 😉
butternut squash mac & cheese
I love a good roast chicken with veggies and homemade bread!
vegetable stir fry
Mac and cheese, meat and a veg. sometimes just two or three vegs and no meat with the mac and cheese.
I love my mother’s pork schnitzel, with rice and dill gravy…to die for comfort food!
Pesto chicken (with homemade pesto), homemade noodles and a spinach salad with walnuts, apples or pears, gorgonzola in a raspberry vinaegrette (homemade raspberry vinegar!).
My favorite home cooked meal is meatloaf with mashed sweet potatoes. Yum!
I love to make homemade pizza – sometimes I can’t believe that I can make pizza! And its one of my kids’ favorite things to eat.
Salmon, potatoes, veggies, and fresh bread 🙂 =YUM
My favorite home cooked meal includes seared Korean-style salmon, brown rice, and sauteed broccoli. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it’s one of my favorite meals!
As usual, pretty pictures! I’ve never tried broccoli in pesto sauce but the idea sounds wonderful, especially your mention of adding it to quinoa. Must try soon.
This sounds like it would be delicious! Your silverware is just too cute, too 😉
Such a quick and easy recipe. Love how you can put the potassium rich broccoli in this recipe that the kids will even enjoy!
I recently just started my own food blog and always love checking out other food blogs for inspiration. This recipe looks yummy! Love anything with Pesto!