28 May 2018

Kale Pesto

woman wearing red apron making pesto in a food processor

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As many of you know, my beloved—a grown man—has the palette of a five year old. I mean, I love him, but cooking for him is a challenge. You know how parents hide broccoli in brownies? Yeah, that pretty much sums up my strategy.

linen tea towel monogrammed with the initials C C, brick of parmesan cheese, wooden bowl full of pine nuts, grater, and small wooden bowl on white plate

Olivewood Salt Keeper and Peugeot Paris Pepper Mill, Williams Sonoma

And it’s a good thing he doesn’t really read my blog, because I’m about to share the recipe for the kale pesto that’s now sitting in my freezer. It’s part of the postpartum food preparations I’ve been busy whipping up so I don’t have to worry about cooking meals while I’m lost in newborn land.

woman's hand wearing gold ring reaching into bowl full of pine nuts, antique linen tea towel monogrammed with the initials C C, plate of salt and pepper, white food processor and bottle of olive oil

woman wearing red apron pouring olive oil into a food processor making pesto

Billy wouldn’t eat kale if his life depended on it. Hashtag no greens. Hashtag pain in my ass.

woman wearing red apron grating cheese into food processor making pesto

woman wearing red apron cracking pepper into a food processor making pesto and on the table is a wooden bowl and a grater

But don’t worry friends, he’ll never see this kale pesto coming! Thankfully, I got him eating pesto in the early years of our relationship, so I can serve this and know A) he’ll eat it, and B) I’m getting the nutrients I (we) need. He’ll be none the wiser.

woman sticking out her tongue wearing red apron making pesto in a food processor and a man grating parmesan cheese into the pesto

He has no clue.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler!

woman wearing red apron holding bowl of pesto pasta and a wooden spoon

Kale Pesto

1 bunch of kale
1 packed cup of basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 1/2 tsp salt
a few strong cranks of the pepper grinder

Wizz everything together in the food processor.

brown spatterware bowl full of pesto pasta

Spotted Bowl, West Elm

This pesto has a bright, green flavor. Add it to pasta (hot or cold), salads, or raw veggies (just some ideas!) for that classic basil taste. This is the staple in my summer cooking. Billy will love it. And so will you!

photos: Jen Trahan

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Warm Chèvre Frisée Salad with Poached Egg

One of the things I love most about a Saturday with nothing to do is making lunch my big meal of the day. It feels especially fitting this time of year, when it stays light until late in the evening, because I can eat a big meal around three o’clock and then spend the rest of my day outside; I’ll go for a long walk/run on the boardwalk overlooking the city, and then come back and nibble on something light for dinner. So today, as I find myself at home for the first time in a long time (with my picky eater off doing his own thing), I decided to pour my creative juices into a special lunch for one.

Blackberry Farm Retreat

I recently had the sincere pleasure of leading a yoga retreat at a very special place with some very special people. From the moment I stepped foot on Blackberry Farm I thought I had died and gone to heaven — if heaven had a 160,000 bottle wine collection and bred its own Italian truffle hunting dogs to sniff out what would later be shaved onto your dinner plate, which I’m pretty sure it does.

So like I said, heaven.

There were so many things I loved about Blackberry Farm — that the obvious focus on luxury was never ostentatious, but rather an expression of understated simplicity; that the sprawling 4,200 acre property felt untouched, almost wild, despite its quiet paths and endless miles of white fence; that the food was beyond words, although I will try my best to do it justice. What I really loved, though, were the people. Much like my beloved Jungle Bay in Dominica, the people who work at Blackberry Farm seem like they’re part of one big family. Each member of the staff, from the waiters to the farmers to the artisans, treat Blackberry Farm as if it were their own property; they each display a genuine joy in welcoming you into what feels like their home. This is rare, and it’s what makes Blackberry Farm so special. You feel like you’re a part of the family.

The Fourth Trimester

If I look happy in this picture, it’s because I am. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to finally be feeling better. The fourth trimester was beautiful, but also brutal—mostly brutal with some beautiful moments I was either too exhausted, anxious, or hormonal to appreciate. I was prepared for it to be hard, but after years of loss and longing, I expected to find joy in it all.

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﻿﻿May this meditation help you find the peace within. I look forward to sharing more inspiration and goodies with you in my regular newsletters.

May this meditation help you find the peace within. I look forward to sharing more inspiration and goodies with you in my regular newsletters.