The Family Table: Avocado pesto a delicious tomato topper
Few things are more exciting about the summer season than being able to go out to my garden and pick fresh tomatoes.
In salads, on pizza, sandwiched between bread, cooked for sauce and cold as a salsa base 鈥� they are the versatile stars of the garden party.
This year, though, our large ripened tomatoes have been scant. We put our garden in a little later than normal, which has led to an abundance of large green tomatoes, and way too few big ripe red ones.
My mother, however, is the proud owner of this year蘑菇视频 Jurassic Garden, which includes mountainous tomato plants that have produced incredibly. Her raised beds have given her so many tomatoes that we鈥檝e reversed tomato roles: she蘑菇视频 handing them off to me because she can鈥檛 use them fast enough.
They make the perfect evening snack for Mike and me. I top mine with a sprinkle of pepper; he tops his with a sprinkle of salt. Crumble a little cheese on top, and it蘑菇视频 the perfect little bite.
I鈥檝e also come to love them topped with a spicy pesto I鈥檝e been making as of late. While I love traditional basil pesto, experimenting with different flavors like this one does offers a break from the norm.
My recipe cuts out the olive oil in favor of fresh avocado, substitutes spinach and parsley for basil and includes roasted jalapenos and garlic for a little kick. It doesn鈥檛 use pricey pine nuts either.
In addition to making a delicious tomato topper, I鈥檝e also thinned it out a bit to use a salad dressing, tossed it with noodles and used it as a dip for fresh veggies. I particularly love it with fresh peas 鈥� which I do have an abundance of in my garden. Apparently they need less time to produce than tomatoes.
Spicy Avocado Pesto
1 avocado
1/3 cup parsley
1 roasted jalapeno, seeds removed
4 cloves roasted garlic
1 cup fresh spinach
Juice of 1-2 limes
录 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper to taste
Use a blender to pulse together avocado and spinach. Add the juice of one lime and the remaining ingredients and blend together. If the mixture is too pasty, add the juice of the second lime and blend again.