Vegan Kale Pesto

I have lots of recipes and ideas here on making pesto. Last week our Harvest Manager Kevin was telling me about a vegan kale pesto he makes all the time. I wondered if this space needs another post on pesto? Kevin sent me the recipe and I made his vegan kale pesto. I really like it and decided to share it with you. It isn’t as assertive as traditional basil pesto where a little goes a long way. Kale pesto is more subtle and I think more versatile, more a backup singer than a lead. Because it has no cheese it is lighter and the flavor of the nuts and herbs and kale are more discernable than traditional pesto.

Kevin got his kale pesto recipe from a vegan restaurant in Denver, Somebody People. The original recipe uses a whole bunch of kale and no basil but asks for leaves from a bunch of radishes. I didn’t have that so I used mint and a few basil leaves. I loved the mint in this pesto. You can use a handful of what ever herbs or extra greens you have.

I followed Kevin’s Somebody People pretty closely but used what I had.

One bunch of Kale, ribs removed
One cup of olive oil. I would use 3/4 cup next time
Juice and peel of 1/2 lemon I totally forgot to take a picture of that, DON’T leave it out!
1/4 cup of any nuts you like. I had macadamia nuts. If you can’t do nuts try sunflower seeds or hemp seeds
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
a handful of herbs. I used mint and basil. You could use radish or carrot tops instead of herbs.
salt and pepper

Method for making Kale Pesto

Blanch the kale in boiling water for 2 minutes and shock it in cold water and squeeze out the excess water. I completely forgot to take a picture of that.
Put the garlic cloves in a food possessor and give them a spin then add the blanched and squeezed kale and everything else except the olive oil-give that a spin.