This nutrient rich dairy free pesto is as delicious as it is nourishing. It’s perfect for when there’s a dairy free person to cater for but you don’t want to ‘hold the delicious’. Here are a few ways it delivers a powerhouse of goodness to your body!
Fresh basil – anti inflammatory and anti ageing, packed with antioxidants and seriously yummy!
Nutritional Yeast – A brilliant cheese flavour substitute if one must and packed with Vitamin B 12 – 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes is enough vitamin B 12 for a whole day! It’s high fiber AND high in folic acid – the REAL kind as opposed to synthetic. Don’t worry it’s not the kind of yeast that contributes to candida. You can grab these from either your local health shop or online organic grocer.
Dulse Flakes – Full of mineral content such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc and iodine and vitamins A, C and E and B vitamins. I’ve got a whole post on Sea veggies and their benefits here. Sea veggies are available at health shops. Just be sure to not buy anything from the asian region due to Fukushima Nuclear disaster. Sad that we have to worry about such things, but we do!
Almonds – Phosphorus for healthy bones and teeth, reduce blood sugar spiking in meals, riboflavin and L-Carnitine for brain boosting and helping the body to use fat stores for energy.
Cashews – Brimming with healthy fats, proven in multiple studies to protect the heart. They also contain essential minerals such as copper, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus, so they’re also great for bones and teeth.
Whip this up in a jiffy and keep a solid layer of olive oil over the top to mean it doesn’t oxidise and if you’re not dairy free? Just swap out the nutritional yeast for 2/3 cup parmeggiano reggiano or gran padano instead.
Making it and have a pretty picture to take? Tag @lowtoxlife and #lowtoxlife so I can see!
Real Food. Happy Bodies
Nutrient Rich Dairy Free Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 bunch basil
- 2/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes (or parmeggiano / gran padano if you want to use cheese)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup nuts of your choice I used half / half raw cashew and roasted almonds
- 1 tsp dulse flakes
- 1/2 cup quality olive oil plus more for topping up and preserving later
- 1 clove garlic (optional. I don’t do great with raw garlic but if you do and enjoy the flavour then go for it!)
Instructions
- Blend nuts the garlic until chunky in a good food processor – NOT until they’re a fine meal – Chunky! (Thermomix: Sp 7, 4 seconds)
- Add nutritional yeast, dulse, salt and basil. Blend a further 3-4 seconds
- Add olive oil and blend a further 3 seconds.
- Taste. Add more salt and pepper if you fancy.
- Place in 2 small jars or one large one.
- Press down in the jar so that there are no air pockets and top with a good drizzle of olive oil to prevent the top from oxidising.
- You’re done. Gorgeous!
- PRO TIME SAVER TIP: Double or triple this recipe and make the whole summer’s worth. With a good 2cm layer of olive oil on top it will keep well, provided no air bubbles in the jar.
- Top cucumber wheels with it for a delicious snack, smother some gluten free pasta with a generous amount or zucchini noodles, or add to your vinaigrette for a chunkier, flavourful salad dressing. You could also make my cashew kale stuffed pesto chicken recipe with this instead if you had it lying around!
Comments 2
This recipe is great! I just used a mix of herbs from the garden and it worked beautifully. Didn’t have any dulse flakes so will try it with them next time.
Author
So glad you enjoyed it and yes it’s super flexible x