From Pat Leavitt's Kitchen: Freestyle Pesto

A New Take on a Traditional Dish

Lambs quarters, Chenopodium album, is an edible native plant that grows wild in Virginia and many parts of the world. It is coming up in my garden and is so good in pesto!

I often make a pesto with a mix of garden and foraged herbs, such as spring chickweed, dandelion greens, plantain, nettles, and a few violet leaves. Be sure to wash your wild greens well before using. Prefer vegan? Omit the traditional Parmesan cheese or serve it on the side.

I have been adding lemon juice and zest to pesto ever since Roxanne Clark from Louisville, Kentucky, made it that way at summer retreat in the early days. Try any of these instead of the expensive pine nuts: lightly toasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts or almonds. Toasting adds depth and brings out the flavor of the oils in the seeds.

To save space here, please find a basic pesto recipe in many cookbooks or online.

Here's a nice combination for a summer pesto dish. It's so good on quinoa!

3 cups cooked quinoa; cool and fluff
1/2 cup (or more to taste) pesto
1 bunch broccoli; cut in small bite size, blanch in salted boiling water 4 minutes, drain well
1 cup lightly toasted and chopped walnuts

Stir the pesto into the quinoa, taste and adjust with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper. Add the other ingredients and stir gently together. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Good for lunch with salad and tomatoes.