Avocado Pesto + 4 ways to use it

So, we had a great time at Whole Foods getting ingredients for this savory spread. I got another container of coconut milk yogurt, and even non-dairy sour cream, cultured from cashews and coconut milk. Both were delicious as additions to the avocado pesto. More on that later!

We started off trying Nadiya's trick for peeling garlic quickly, which is to have the cloves sit in a little bowl of boiling water for a minute. That worked well! We chopped/pressed the garlic and let it sit aside for at least 7 minutes to release the healthy compounds until we were ready with the other ingredients (Thanks, Mrs. Kimball!). I also used kale instead of spinach (lower oxalate choice), and defrosted it in a bowl of boiling water, since we don't own a microwave. It only took a few minutes, no pot or steamer required. That went into the food processor first, after squeezing out the excess water.

Next, Kayden zested the lemon using a grater, and then he sliced it and squeezed the juice into the same bowl as the zest. This was to "stop any of the beautiful green avocado going brown," according to Nadiya's book, Time to Eat, on p. 27. He did a great job of doing a job I don't really like doing. :)

Once the lemon was ready, Kayden cut the 4 avocados (I doubled the recipe, since I knew I'd eat a lot of it!). He experimented a few times with cutting techniques, but finally cut it the way I instructed him, which is the normal way to cut avocados. Since this recipe, we found a really cool 3-in-1 (cutting around the outside, de-seeding, and slicing the inside) avocado tool at Target, which we're really looking forward to using!:)

Kayden's favorite part was putting everything into the food processor, so in went the avocados, the lemon zest and juice, walnuts (I had soaked them the night before for better digestion), salt, and instead of chili flakes, my non-inflammatory adobo powder. We also added flax oil instead of olive oil, for mucho healing power and omega-3's. Kayden did not want to try it, so I did...it was very garlicky-pungent and the flax gave it almost a bitter note. Wow was it flavorful!!! It was definitely something to put in other dishes...next time, I'll use the suggested olive oil for the taste, but it was totally useable and delicious in the three dishes that Nadiya suggested:

Nachos! Layers of organic corn tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, black beans, olives, avocado pesto, non-dairy cheddar shreds, non-dairy sour cream, and a dusting of cayenne pepper. Delicious!

And here's the cashew sour cream I used!

2. Not pictured: Gluten-free sourdough bread (Good Kneads) with avocado pesto and a slice of vegan cheddar cheese, toasted for 5 minutes and packed as part of my lunch at the Queens Zoo! That was an amazing lunch. :)

3. Also not pictured: salad dressing made with flax oil, apple cider vinegar and a dollop of the avocado pesto. No additional seasoning needed!

4. Additionally not pictured: Gluten-free pasta with the avocado pesto!

I will definitely make this again! :)

Here's a link to the YouTube video:

Adapting Nadiya's "Time to Eat" Episode 4, Part 1: Avocado Pesto

https://youtu.be/TKv1dGlV59M

Adapting Nadiya's "Time to Eat" Episode 4, Part 2: 4 ways to use Nadiya's Avocado Pesto!

https://youtu.be/-BofJ64rVXY