Nut Free Spinach Avocado Pesto!

Hey guys! I wanted to eat something light and healthy so I made this Spinach Avocado Pesto! It is nut free, raw and processed vegan cheese free! I’m not a fan of the overly processed vegan cheeses so I never use them. This “sauce” is creamy and has that tangy saltiness that Parmesan gives the traditional pesto. I've never actually had pesto before so this is my version based on what I see traditional pesto consists of minus the fresh basil! You can even use this as a dip and it would be amazing. I hope you enjoy it!

I can’t wait for the warm weather to arrive and this dish reminds me of summer! I've been spending my days brainstorming recipes and looking at culinary schools! I’m actually on break from my school at the moment and during my time off I've been contemplating my major and I really think I might go to culinary school for baking and pastry arts because I would LOVE to open up a vegan bakery one day! If it was possible to start an online home based bakery in NYC, I would start it in a heartbeat.

Enough of my rambling! Check out the recipe!

- Alexis ♥

Spinach Avocado Pesto (Nut Free)

• 1 avocado
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup cannellini beans (I used dried ones that I soaked overnight)
• ¼ cup olive oil (or depending on the consistency that you want)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons basil
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• ½ teaspoon parsley
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions

Put the avocado, spinach, cannellini beans, garlic cloves, lemon juice, basil, salt, parsley and pepper in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil until it creates the consistency that you want. (I wanted mine to be thicker so it was like a paste.)

Garnish with julienned spinach or basil and enjoy over warm spaghetti!

Avocado Lime Sorbet!

This is the simplest recipe; it takes all of five minutes to whip up! Some people find avocado in desserts odd but it actually tastes delicious, it is a fruit after all. You should try it, if only just to say you did! :)



Going along with my theme from my last post, more talk about my travels! This time: Los Angeles, California definitely known for being vegan friendly so that’s not really an issue haha. Before I left for California I had this misconception that it was more city like than it really is. I guess coming from NYC I’m used to public transportation that takes you everywhere you need to be and in California it seemed odd to take buses or the train and they took forever to come! Nevertheless it is a beautiful place; I enjoyed Santa Monica and the Farmer’s Market at The Grove! Hollywood was my least favorite place because it reminded me too much of Times Square which is a place you run from when you live in NY.


The weather in California is so nice! I wish it was like that more in the northeast. The fresh fruit and produce was in abundance and while we have farmers markets here, there is so much more available on the west coast! I would love to go back and explore again.

- Alexis

Avocado Lime Sorbet

• ½ cup Avocado
• ½ cup non-dairy Milk
• ½ cup Freshly Squeezed Lime juice
• 2-4 tablespoons Agave Nectar (more or less depending on how sweet you want it)

Directions

Puree Avocado, milk, lime juice and agave in a food processor until smooth and transfer to an airtight container to freeze overnight.