After fretting over a recipe to make for St. Patrick’s Day and then having a few gluten-free/vegan cakes crash and burn, Eric suggested that I switch things up and make pesto. It’s green, right? He was onto something, that clever man. I peered into the fridge and found zucchini, avocado, and spinach. Also green. They were also not growing fur which is always a miracle in this house. On the counter, green lentils and millet. I don’t really believe in fate, but this was the perfect combo for a healthy green dish!
I’ve had a few requests to show you some of the meals I’m eating while on the allergy elimination diet. It was rough at first and I had no idea what to eat for a while. It’s getting easier though and I’m determined not to let this challenge translate into boring, bland meals. Last week’s recipe was an example and so is this dish today. Let’s hope I can keep this enthusiasm going!
This isn’t actually “pesto” per say since it’s nut-free, but it’s close enough. I adapted my beloved creamy avocado dressing for this one. It’s a simple blend of avocado, basil, extra virgin olive oil, lemon, sea salt, and garlic. The dressing has a nice zip to it, kicking up the dish several notches which is always a good thing when cooking with millet. I like it in generous supply on my plate as you can probably see!
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Green Powerhouse Pesto Plate
Yield
4 Servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A tasty way to pack in a few servings of greens all on one plate.
Ingredients
For the base
- 1 cup uncooked millet
- 1 cup uncooked green lentils
- 2 medium zucchini, sliced
- 3 handfuls spinach
For the pesto
- 1/2 large avocado (about 1/3-1/2 cup flesh)
- 2 small or 1 large garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- fine grain sea salt, to taste (I used just over 1/4 tsp)
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup lightly packed basil leaves (one entire 40-gram package)
Directions
- Rinse and drain lentils in a fine mesh sieve. Add to a medium pot along with 3 cups of water. Bring to a low boil and then reduce heat to low-medium and simmer uncovered for 25-40 minutes. When lentils are tender, remove from heat and drain water if necessary.
- At the same time, cook the millet. Rinse and drain in a fine mesh sieve and add to a medium pot. Add 2 cups of water or vegetable broth, bring to a low boil, and reduce heat to low-medium. Cover with tight fitting lid and simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and leave lid on to steam for another 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Meanwhile, sauté the zucchini in a skillet with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper for about 5-10 minutes, or until much of the water has cooked off. Add a few handfuls of spinach into the skillet and cook until wilted.
- To prepare the dressing: Add all dressing ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary. Adjust salt to taste.
- To assemble: Toss the millet and lentils together in one pot and season with Herbamare and pepper. Portion onto plates followed by the zucchini and spinach mixture. Now spoon on a generous amount of dressing and serve!
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Three cheers for a gorgeous spring-like weekend, long walks, and an extra hour of photography day light! I don’t know about you, but I have full blown spring fever.
PS- Keep those entries for the VVC giveaway coming in. I’m happy to see how many of you are in the area or within driving distance.
Oh. My. Word. This looks right up my alley! The “pesto,” spinach and lentils combination sounds delicious! This recipe is happening in my kitchen this week. Thanks Angela!
I LOVE that you used avocado in your pesto. That sounds so delicious! :)
What a pretty looking dish! Very appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day :) I’m a huge fan of avocado, so I pretty much love anything that features avocado.
Thanks.
This is so similar to one of my recent faves in the last two weeks. Lots of greens, plus grains and avocado topped with pesto from Trader Joe’s. I will definitely have to try to make my own soon!
This looks delicious! I always look forward to seeing your recipes and how you continue to incorporate more and more veggies and good food!
Thanks for posting this recipe! I’m doing an elimination diet as my breastfeeding baby has several allergies. I’ve eliminated dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, and chocolate. I made this delicious recipe for dinner tonight. I added shiitake mushrooms to the zucchini and replaced the basil with dill. The pesto tasted super fresh and fabulous! Thanks for the dinner inspiration!
Hey Kristin, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Good call on adding mushrooms :)
This looks absolutely delicious! Zuchinni and pesto are two of my favorite green things so i can’t wait to try this recipe. I pinned it to make for lunch next week!
I read often yet never comment- i just wanted to say thank you for posting a never ending supply of delicious healthy vegan meals that are actual meals! I find so many vegan recipes on the internet are flimsy salady things that are 200 cal “meals” or raw desserts that are all nuts!
Your blog is always inspiring and i have referred many many omni friends here to see how delightful cruelty free is.
Thank you, I appreciate your kind feedback!
I just love the simplicity of this dish! Sometimes the best recipes are the ones you throw together with the “non-furry” veggies you have on hand! :) Can’t wait to try the pesto, thank you!
I just made this tonight and we (husband and I) LOVED it. Will definitely make it again. I subbed couscous for millet since I had none, and it turned out fabulous. Am off to recommend to someone who has been transitioning to a vegan diet and is having a hard time finding really tasty dinners. Thanks!
Oh I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know :)
Avocado’s are so versatile and you’ve used it to it’s potential here. Yummy! :)
I love St. Patricks Day week just for the sake of more green recipes! This pesto looks amazing Angela, thanks for sharing :)
Angela!
I love your elimination diet inspired recipes. I have IBD (I know you’ve mentioned you had IBS at one point) and I maintain a strict diet. It’s really hard to find good recipes, because I am dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, corn free, etc. etc. I love your recipes in general (though many of them don’t work for me, or I often have to adapt them in small ways), but these new ones inspired by your elimination diet are especially great for me. Thank you so much for sharing them–before I found your blog it was so hard for me to find recipes that I could eat and still taste great. You’ve helped me immensely, and I thank you :)
Omg. Mouth. Watering.
I could bathe in pesto…it’s so yummy! I won’t of course but still.
I just made this for my lunch and as it was only for 1 i only made a small amount. What a huge mistake! It’s delicious and now I want more. The avocado is a nice change for the pesto. I didn’t have any millet but ill definitely pick some up for the next time. Thanks Angela.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Maritza!
I was also trying to find a good St.Patty’s Day recipe and I decided on pesto as well! Mine is a pesto salmon recipe though. I like the idea of a warm pesto millet salad!
This looks really good! I love the idea of a green recipe that’s not just green beer (which is typically what all of my friends do for St. Patty’s Day). I will definitely be making this.
This is brilliant. I was struggling with energy/fatigue a few weeks ago, and made a commitment to eating green things in LARGE quantities, plus other high iron sources. The result was, in fact, more energy and focus. But, after awhile, there are just so many broccoli, spinach and kale concoctions one can come up with. I look forward to trying this!
This looks great! Sounds like a great meal to get me ready for Spring Break travels.