"Winter" Pesto

I know I have already sung the praises of Costco, but I'm going to do it again right now:

Wow! They have amazing produce, a lot of organic stuff, and wonderful natural foods. I am telling you, this is the best $50 for the membership I have spent! We got a 19 lb. box of YUMMY navel oranges and have been addicted to "orange julius" drinks courtesy of my Vita-Mix. And also, a huge bag of shelled pecans for a very reasonable price. And a liter of organic cold pressed extra virgin olive oil for like, $8.

So, I actually managed to get my butt down to Central City Co-op today and I ordered a box of all locally grown organic produce for next week and did a little bit of shopping while I was there. I got local honey, a few lemons (not local), some local beets, local kale, and local cilantro. I have plans for that cilantro!

I plan to make this Winter Pesto recipe that I found on Karina-s Kitchen: Recipes from a [Gluten-Free] Goddess 's blog.

2 cups, washed, loosely packed stemmed cilantro
2/3 cup shelled pecans
1-2 cloves fresh garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 to 1/2 cup good tasting extra virgin olive oil, as needed
Sea salt, to taste

Combine the cilantro, pecans, garlic and dried basil in a food processor and process until it turns into a coarse meal. Slowly add extra virgin olive oil and process until it becomes a smooth, light paste. Add enough olive oil to keep it moist and spreadable. Season with sea salt, to taste.

Cover and store chilled for at least an hour to saturate the flavors. I like to pour a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil over the top to help keep it bright green.

Makes roughly a rounded cup.

Om Nom Nom Nom! I will let you know how it turns out.