Since quitting my job last year and working at home, I have struggled with taking time to eat. Back when I worked for someone else I took FULL advantage of my lunch hours- went out to long lunches, ate good food and made my lunch in advance. These days it seems like I just dash through the kitchen and grab anything to put in my mouth (crackers, cereal, peanut butter sandwich) and I am lucky if I am not eating while typing an email, standing at the kitchen sink or while painting - yes, sometimes I eat and paint! So to combat this problem I have with taking breaks and eating good food (I am a self proclaimed foodie- there is no excuse to eat cereal for lunch!), I have been taking time once a week to make myself a big batch of something good and healthy to keep me going through my busy schedule. This week I decided to make a big batch brown rice, chicken and black beans topped with one of my favorites-
cilantro pesto...YUMMMMMMM!!!!
If you don't like the flavor of cilantro then just skip past this post but if you do like cilantro this is a really easy way to liven up some simple dishes, use as a dip, a sauce or just eat by the spoonful as you dash through the kitchen:) I wanted a real light flavor so I went simple for this batch- Ingredients that I used for this post-
2 bunches of cilantro
1 little pinch of parsley
a dash of salt and pepper
olive oil
squeeze of lemon
alternatives to add for more flavor- onions, green chiles, garlic, pine nuts, vinegar, shallots...
Since I don't have a food processor I used the blender (hint, hint husband if you are reading this I really want a food processor). I tossed my greens, salt, pepper and lemon juice into the blender.
I added the olive oil- roughly a 1/4 cup- you can adjust the amount depending on the consistency that you want.
Blend and blend well until you get a beautiful creamy green mixture.
How pretty is that color green!?!?
Then I transfered my pesto into little jars (recycled jars) and added labels just in case someone opens the fridge and isn't sure what they are and decides to throw them out.
And now I have enough cilantro pesto to go with my chicken and rice and beans to last me for the rest of the week.
Now there is no excuse this week to eat crackers and cereal for lunch when I have this beautiful little meal waiting for me!
