Makes 6 servings

Pesto has become one of my closest friends since tomato sauce became a holiday food.  Generally here in the US, pesto is primarily made with sweet basil.  Well, basil is really high in potassium and I’m really not that fond of it. In Sicily, where pesto originated, it is made using just about any vegetable that can be ground into a paste (pesto literally means paste). I’m using collard greens and spinach for this version - spinach is expensive on the K+, but it has other nutritional value - so I used it on the video, but please experiment! Try turnip or mustard greens! Celery leaves work amazingly well and are so cool and refreshing in a cold pasta or rice dish.  I’ve used cooked asparagus, Spring mix or 50/50 salad mix, and artichoke hearts (expensive on the points, but sooo worth it).  Sun dried tomatoes…yummm.

Here’s the count using just collard greens:

K+: 81mg  PHO: 69mg  Pro: 6g

Here’s the count using the recipe on the video - collard greens and spinach:

K+: 111mg  PHO: 71mg  Pro 5g

DASH count:  per serving:  1V, 1P, 2FA

*Remember, if you are using other veggies for your sauce, please adjust the counts!

4 cups (tightly packed) uncooked collard greens - washed and stemmed. I use the kind in the bag mainly because I eat a lot of collards every week.  Go ahead, treat yourself to some convenience!

3-5 cloves of garlic - this is to your taste

¼ cup macadamia nuts

¼ cup parmesan cheese

¼ cup (and maybe a couple of tablespoons more) olive oil

1tbsp fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp chili flakes (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Put the garlic, nuts, and cheese in the food processor and pulse it until you get small crumbs that are pretty uniform in size.  Then add 2 cups of your greens and half of the olive oil.  Whir this into a coarse paste.  Do not liquify it or it will be texturally gross.  Put this mixture into a decent sized bowl.  Then put the other 2 cups of the greens, the lemon juice, and the spices in the processor with the other half of the oil.  Whir these together until they are the same texture as the first batch…you might need to add a little extra oil - don’t be shy about it.  Combine the two batches and mix together well.  You can use it right now, but if you let it flavor meld for about a half an hour, it will be much tastier…and even better tomorrow.  This will sit in the fridge for about 4 days, and freezes like a dream!  So easy, so tasty.  It’s simple food that loves you!