I wanted to call this Power-Green Pumpkin-Seed Pesto because of my love of alliterations, but let’s be honest.  That is quite a mouthful so Power-Green Pesto it is. 

I know that I have a lot of pesto recipes on the blog already but there is a good reason for that: Pesto is delicious.  And it goes with everything.  Tomato soup is amazing with a dollop of pesto, it works great as a salad dressing, mixed in with scrambled eggs is a revelation, and heck, spread on some toast is pretty darn good too.

Pesto really is the besto.

I made this pesto because I had a bunch of odds and ends in the green department and wanted to use them up in some way.  Now, traditional pesto is made with basil, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and pine nuts but it’s easy to substitute other greens/nuts/seeds to make it fun. 

Also, can we talk about garlic for a second?  I LOVE garlic.  Like whenever I read a recipe and it calls for like 1 or 2 cloves of garlic I always double it.  Because I want more garlic.  Sure, I might have garlic breath but I don’t care.  I know not everyone shares my love of garlic so I always have to reign myself in when I write recipes.  Now you know.  When you see 1-2 cloves garlic, know that in my heart (and probably in the original recipe), I had like six.

If you can’t find watercress (which I found at my Wal-mart so….), try parsley or cilantro or kale or any other leafy green you might enjoy.  And have this on hand soon because I have a creamy pesto pasta dish that is almost as delicious as pesto is on anything!

Power-Green Pesto 

• 2 cups arugula
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 cup watercress
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 3-4 large cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

1. Place the garlic, nutritional yeast, half of the salt, and half the pumpkin seeds into a blender or food processor.  Blend until everything is broken down and you’re starting to get a little bit of a paste.
2. Add the arugula, spinach, and watercress.  Blend until the greens are all chopped up.  Add the rest of the salt and pumpkin seeds.
3. Turn on your blender and slowly pour in the olive oil.  You’re done once the pesto all comes together and looks nice and creamy.
4. Taste and add pepper and more salt if needed.  Store in an airtight jar or container in your fridge.  If you don’t eat it all right away, it should last about two weeks in there 🙂