Spinach or Arugula and Miso Pesto

This delicious pesto turns ordinary carbs into special meals. You can use this as suggested below for serving with pasta, pizza, or potatoes. Or skip the carbs as I’ve done here, and toss this pesto with “noodles” made of raw zucchini and/or yellow summer squash made with a spiral slicer (the one I use is by World Cuisine). No matter how you use it, this pesto, made greener with spinach, imparts a rich, briny flavor from the addition of miso. 

• 4 to 5 ounces fresh spinach or baby spinach or arugula
  (or half of each), rinsed, large stems removed
• 1/2 to 1 cup firmly packed fresh basil
• 1/3 cup walnuts or pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice, or more, to taste
• 2 tablespoons miso, any variety (though red or mellow white
  are great with this), more or less to taste
• 1 clove garlic, optional (if you like raw garlic)

Combine  about half of the spinach with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Process until the mixture is a finely and evenly chopped. Add the remaining spinach, about half at a time, and pulse on and off until the entire mixture is a coarse puree.

Serve at once. Here are a few serving suggestions:

1. Toss with cooked pasta or raw zucchini “noodles” made with a spiralizer
   (this pesto is enough for about 12 ounces of pasta or zucchini “noodles”
   Top with Raw Vegan Parmesan-Style Cheez.
2. Use as a topping for baked potatoes, or use as a dressing for a simple potato salad.
3. Spread on pizza in place of tomato-based sauce.
4. Add a dollop to individual servings of cold summer soups.

• Here are more Spinach recipes.
• For more easy sauces of all sorts, see Simple Sauces and Such.