This time of year, we get a lot of different types of greens in our weekly CSA delivery.
I'm not complaining- I love my greens! Kale, chard, collards, spinach, mustard greens, arugula, cabbage, and more- I love them all!
The problem arises when I get more greens than I have time to eat. I put them in smoothies, soups, salads, tacos, pizzas, or sauté them up by themselves to have as a side dish. Sometimes, though, when life gets busy, I'm still left with some greens that are beginning to wilt by the time our next delivery comes around.
When I need to hurry up and use some greens, pesto is always one of my favorite staples to put greens to good use. Most recently, I ended up with a beautiful bunch of mizuna that, between eating leftovers and going out to dinner the week prior, we never got around to using. I knew instantly that pesto would be its fate. Mizuna is very similar to arugula, though maybe slightly less peppery. It adds a bold flavor to your pesto without making it too overpowering to pair with a variety of other ingredients. If you can't find mizuna, arugula, spinach, kale, or even the traditional basil would be perfect in this pesto.
The next day, I was jonesing for some farrotto (I swear, I cannot get enough of farro these days) and decided that the tasty jar of mizuna pesto in the fridge would be perfect to stir into the finished product. I also added some dried oyster mushrooms (re-hydrated, of course) that my local market had on sale, as well as some frozen peas (because I love pesto and peas together). There was also this roasted olive idea I'd been thinking about that I wanted to try. Can you tell I was pretty excited when I got into the kitchen that night?
The result was better than I'd anticipated. Creamy farrotto made even creamier with zesty pesto is wonderful alone, but combined with the big chunks of oyster mushrooms and little bursts of sweet peas just made my day my week my month. Then there were the olives. The roasted olives. The roasting truly highlighted the salty brininess of these olives, but since I had sliced them, they got a little crisp on the outside. The texture and taste of these crispy, salty olive slices against the creamy pesto farrotto was astonishing. I couldn't get enough. I was sad when I was too full to take another bite. Thank goodness for leftovers!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons dried basil (or 3 tablespoons fresh)
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme (or 2 tablespoons fresh)
- pinch of smoked paprika
- 3 1/2 cups mizuna leaves (no stems), or arugula or other green
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2/3 cups vegetable broth (or water)
- salt to taste
- several dashes of black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 onion, diced small
- 1 1/2 cups farro, soaked for 1 hour
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 8 oz dried oyster mushrooms, rehydrated or 2 cups fresh and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1/2 cup black olives, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- a couple dashes of garlic powder
- a couple dashes of dried oregano
- a couple dashes of black pepper
- salt to taste (optional- it was salty enough as it was, so I didn't add any)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except for the salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Process until fully combined. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread the olive slices out on the baking sheet. Top with the lemon juice, garlic powder, oregano, pepper, and salt (if using). Toss to combine.
- Roast olives in the oven for 20 minutes, tossing them once halfway through. Remove from oven and set aside until ready to use.
- Heat the olive oil with the garlic in a large, shallow saucepan over medium heat for about 1-2 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant. Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the farro, ¼ cup vegetable broth, thyme, basil, and oregano. Sauté for about 2 minutes or until liquid has mostly cooked away.
- Add 1 ¼ cups vegetable broth and the mushrooms and peas, stir, and cover the pan. Let cook for about 5 minutes or until the liquid has mostly cooked away. Add ½ cup of vegetable broth, stir and cover. Once the liquid has mostly cooked away, add another ½ cup of vegetable broth, stir and cover. Continue this pattern until all broth has been used and the farro is fully cooked and thick. Add the lemon juice and nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Mix in 1 cup of pesto sauce and stir until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm and enjoy!
What are your favorite ways to eat your greens?
Caitlin
wow! what a work of art! every aspect of this dish is so well thought out and executed and i cant definitely tell! it looks absolutely perfect and so delicious. i wish i could come over for dinner tonight and eat this 😉
keepinitkind
Thank you, Caitlin! You know you're welcome to come over for dinner any time! 🙂
Emily K. @ Leaf Parade
This looks epic!
keepinitkind
Thank you! 🙂
Treesa
Hum, and I thought I knew, and have had (ok maybe a slight exageration, but only slight) every veggie known. Guess not. Mizuna, I am on the lookout for you!.
keepinitkind
Mizuna is a fun one- such a unique flavor! 🙂
Annie
I tend to over buy the greens, too - and despite the daily smoothies and daily salads...there are greens staring at me when I open the refrigerator door! I'm gonna start pesto-izing them!
keepinitkind
Pesto is my secret weapon for using up greens. Can't use the pesto any time soon? It freezes perfectly too. 🙂
Shira
I couldn't agree more about using up greens this way! This is spectacular Kristy- that is one gorgeous bowl of beauty! Love the roasting olives..I've never tried that but it sounds divine!
Gabby @ the veggie nook
Looks awesome Kristy! I had to give up getting my weekly produce delivery for a while (silly little elimination diet doesn't work so well with one of those :() but I totally make pesto too whenever I have a green or herb that needs using fast. It's so perfect because you can freeze it and have something delicious to add to grains and veggies for ages 🙂 I love this dish with the mushrooms- earthy, homey goodness!
jodye @ chocolate and chou fleur
I just love roasted olives, and this pesto sounds so amazing! I love hearty grain dishes, and it's getting cold here (again) after a nice little burst of warm weather, so I've been craving this kind of very savory meal. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
keepinitkind
Thank you, Jodye! 🙂
Richa
I hear you about the greens. a few weeks back i had a load greens and squashes.. i made a bunch of stuff and send it with hubbs to office. he doesnt like lunch boxes.. but sometimes i cant finish things by myself:)
i love the creamy farroto. and those roasted olives have already been demanded by hubbs!
keepinitkind
The hubby's lunchbox is a great place to send extra food! If only Chris could remember to take his lunch when I pack him one... 😉
Somer
Girl, you are making me weak in the knees! Roasted Olives, Farroto, Pesto! I need! xx
keepinitkind
Then you must try it! 🙂
Heather
I am so incredibly hungry after reading this post- mmmm roasted olives, I need these at my desk right this very moment. Funny you mention your craving for Farro, I have been craving Farro like crazy lately and am down to my last 1/4 cup, I need to restock!
keepinitkind
What is it about farro that's so addictive? It's definitely my go-to grain of the moment. 🙂
Carole
Hi there. The current Food on Friday on Carole's Chatter is collecting links to dishes using peas and/or green beans. I do hope you link this in. This is the link . Please do check out some of the other links – there are some good ones already. Cheers
Inés
Hi Kristy,
I made this - or something similar (without the olives) - today and the green color was fantastic! =)
I used rice, though, but I think this worked just as well. What I would change though is that I'd use a bit less cashew nuts in the pesto, to make it a bit more "spicy". I had arugula in it (because it needed to be eaten 😉 ) and I expected the pesto to taste more of arugula and garlic. Mine turned out nearly sweet due to the nuts and, as the peas were sweet, I'd have liked a bit more of a contrast to them to have them standing out like you described it.
Maybe it's different with mizuna, but I've never seen that anywhere here in Germany and had to use up the arugula anyway 😉 My pesto also looked different from yours - yours looks greener.
And what I'd like to add: I really like your blog and your recipes and always look forward to reading it when seeing that there's a new post of yours!
keepinitkind
Thank you, Ines! I'm so happy that you like Keepin' It Kind!
Thank you for the tips with the arugula pesto. Mizuna is a tad more peppery than arugula so that's probably why I didn't taste the sweetness. I will keep that in mind if I try it with arugula! 🙂
Thank you for piping in and for following Keepin' It Kind. It truly means so much to me! 🙂
Jim
Was looking for a mizuna pesto recipe to accompany pasta with sausage, I thought the tart mizuna might be a nice pairing. This recipe seems to be a bit complicated: nutritional yeast? Broth? Paprika? I'm not sure I see the need for these ingredients.
Might just alter my basic pesto recipe and add in the mizuna. But the dish in the photo looks tasty. Thanks!