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.
What a creative recipe, can’t wait to try this! Simple and nutritious. And you definitely take the most amazing pictures. I would love to learn some tricks and tips on how you take such vibrant pictures.
This is just fabulous. I love adding spinach to pesto– it’s already green, so might as well pack it with more nutrition!
I will be in San Francisco in a month and need some good vegan restaurant ideas.
Know any?
LOVE your blog it’s my favorite!!!!
Hi Missy, I’ve never been but I would check Happy Cow for a listing :)
Made this last night and added crimini mushrooms and Brussels sprouts. YUM.
I love millet, avocados, basil, zucchini and spinach. I must make this! Millet has become my new favorite grain, such a good texture and forms easy for veggie burger making.
Elimination/allergy diets are so hard! I’ve done them twice now, it gets easier as time goes on. Plus you usually feel more energetic and less bloated by eliminating sugars and gluten. Hope you feel better and figure out what you may be allergic to. Good luck!
Yum! The zucchini and millet together would make for a nice texture combo, awesome! Beautiful photos btw :)
This looks incredible! I love the nut-free pesto improvisation, and all that green just makes me happy.
I know what you mean regarding not knowing what to eat — when my dad and I found out that we have celiac, neither one of us knew what we could eat. I wound up going to Whole Foods and begging for help while wandering the aisles; it wasn’t my proudest moment, but it was really helpful. :) Hope your elimination diet is going well and that you’re feeling good!
I cant wait to try this! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Looks delicous – love the green color! I’ve been wanting summer basil lately, can’t wait for the warmer weather :)
I made this tonight and added mushrooms and a few pistachios right before serving, it was absolutely delicious! Thanks for another great recipe :)
Yum, you can’t beat homemade pesto! I’ve never made it without pine nuts or with the addition of avocado, but this looks delightfully delicious :)
My husband and I just made pesto this Sunday (the traditional way)! This looks amazing though for a GF/vegan pesto!
YUMMY!!!! This looks so super tasty – I will be making it this weekend for sure!
It occurred to me halfway through your post that a few years ago, I would wrinkled my nose up at this ;p
This was delicious! I made it for the family tonight. :D I added sugar snap peas in addition to the spinach and zucchini. I also subbed bulgur for the millet because I couldn’t find any in my cupboard. I had to use dried basil because none of the grocery stores in the area had fresh basil. I will definitely make this again! YUM!
This looks delicious! How long do you think the dressing will hold up? I was thinking about making the recipe for multiple lunches next week.
I would imagine it should last at least 2 days. The avocado might throw it off quicker than normal though. goodluck!
This looks absolutely amazing! :)
This looks so delicious! I love the idea of using avocado in the pesto. I can’t wait to try this springy-looking dish.
Have you ever thought of putting together weekly meal plans? What does a day in your life look like food wise?
I’ve thought about it for sure – maybe something to think about when my book is finished! Thanks for the suggestion.
Made this dish last night and it was a hit! “Good flavour”, “yum”, “send me that recipe” comments from the girls.
Had to cook a second batch of the millet (good thing I bought too much) b/c it was ready in 15 minutes of cooking + the 5 minute set & steam. Keep an eye on it.
Also added in celery, finely chopped and steamed baby kale, and steamed broccoli for the most greenest of meals I could make.
Subbed four olives instead of oil in the dressing, and 2 tbsp olive brine for the water. . I wanted a thick sauce.
Delicious!
This was fantastic!! Made it last night. I had no millet on hand so I replaced with farrow. Was still amazing. What a lovely dish with wonderful flavor and great ingredients. My son ate the leftover this morning for breakfast. The dishes were stored separately. I heated the zucchini mixture and then added the salsa. He wished there was more!!!! Without a doubt will make again. Thank you so much and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! Tracey