Arugula Macadamia Pesto

Arugula is taking over our garden this year so it’s making an appearance in many meals. Even so, we can’t eat it fast enough and there’s so much that’s bolting already, getting ready to make many more leafy green babies! We just can’t keep up. But making pesto is a great start, at the very least.

Arugula is best eaten raw because, not only does it retain it’s significant nutritional content, but cooking makes it lose its flavor! In our garden the arugula is so spicy, it’s like a radish! That’s not always the case when purchased at the grocery store when it can be more bitter than ‘biting’! But macadamia nuts and coconut soften taste of this green, taking our humble arugula to a whole other dimension. The smell is amazing and even the kids like it… or at least, most of them do. Now there’s an advertisement for you – verging on the miraculous I would say!

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Arugula Macadamia Pesto

4 cups packed arugula

1 cup macadamia nuts (soaked overnight)

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

juice of one lime

4 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup olive oil

Put all ingredients together in food processor and blend well. Serve with spiralized zucchini and grape tomatoes. Or delve into the less obvious territory of a combination of spiralized carrot and parsnip. It’s colorful, pretty and the sweeter taste of these root vegetables is a wonderful balance for the spicy ‘bite’ of arugula!