I really like Linda Ly’s The CSA Cookbook. It is not a vegan book, but about 90% of the recipes could be veganized with a vegan substitute. This Kale Stem Pesto is vegan as is!
I’m amazed that there are so many recipes that use parts of veggies that I often toss in the compost. This pesto recipe uses kale stems as the main ingredient with some parsley, walnuts, and garlic.
In some of her other recipes, she utilizes leaves from bean and tomato plants and dispels the myth that tomato leaves are poisonous. Carrot top greens are used and she stir fries watermelon rind.
Again there are recipes that are not vegan, but you can use coconut bacon, tofu, seitan and vegan cheeses to make the recipes your own.
My mind is blown by all the cool ideas I’m getting from this book!
Tell me what your best tip is to use up as much of any veggie as possible. I need all the help I can get!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped kale stems
- 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley with stems
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients except the oil to a food processor and pulse until crumbly, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Continue pulsing and add the oil in a slow, steady stream until well blended. Some people like their pesto super smooth, but I prefer a bit of texture, so process to your liking.
- For a thick paste that you can spread onto sandwiches and pizzas, use only ¼ cup of oil. For a thin sauce that you can stir into pastas and soups, use a full ½ cup.
Kathryn Grace says
September 19, 2015 at 12:37 pmI’ve always chopped my stems and added them to my freezer bowl for making veggie soup stock, but this looks like a wonderful way to use them. I’m grateful, too, for a way to use some of the parsley I get in my CSA box. My sweetheart doesn’t care for the stuff, so I almost never use it all. I’m baking homemade crackers today. This pesto would be delicious with them. Thank you!
Joann says
September 19, 2015 at 1:00 pmI should have read this blog yesterday before I cleaned my kale and tossed the stems. It really is amazing how much food the average american wastes. Truthfully I think it’s just we don’t know better. I never even thought you could use the stems for anything but the stockpot. I think I’m going to check out this book! Thanks for turning me on to it. I probably wouldn’t have seen it because I usually only buy vegan cookbooks.
Pooja says
September 19, 2015 at 11:40 pmHey your recipe sounds so delicious. Will try .
Kathryn Grace says
September 20, 2015 at 8:41 pmCame back to let you know I made it and it is indeed delicious with the crackers. A tiny smear is all we need. So much flavor! Incidentally, I had just one bunch of kale, which made half a cup of stems, so I chopped some of the leaves and added them to the mix. Worked fine.
Thanks again for a delicious recipe.
Jennifer says
September 22, 2015 at 9:46 amCan’t go wrong with pestos and this one looks FAB!
Margo, Thrift at Home says
September 29, 2015 at 8:39 pmwhat?! mind blown! I have tried to pickle these stems before with no good results. I’m definitely trying this pesto!
annie says
February 6, 2017 at 9:33 amI love how you can mix almost anything into pesto and it turned to magic. this is such a great way to use up those woody kale stems.
Liz says
February 12, 2017 at 5:19 pmI tried this today and it’s delicious! I made a couple substitutions…I substituted the oil w water. (We’re fat free) and next time I’ll use aquafaba to keep the creaminess. I subbed apple cider vinegar for lemon (didn’t have any) and cashews for the walnuts (also out) but left the rest the same. This is delicious! I’m going to have to try using it as a pizza sauce!
Sonal says
May 20, 2018 at 9:29 pmI think this is a brilliant recipe using the kale stems which otherwise go as a discard! Totally worth trying.
Ames says
June 1, 2018 at 6:45 pmNever had pesto before, so can’t compare to the “normal” kind, but this was amazing! Tried the recipe only because I had some kale stems that I didn’t want to just throw away.
Mine came out too thick though even with a lot of oil, so I added a bit of water.
Kathy Hester says
June 1, 2018 at 7:07 pmI find it often depends on the dryness of the veggie.
Melissa says
June 10, 2018 at 5:02 pmWill this work with frozen kale stems?
Kathy Hester says
June 14, 2018 at 1:21 pmI haven’t tried it, but I think they would work.