Roasted Vegetable Salad with Pea Pesto

Hope everyone’s having a good week! I’ve been feeling really positive and motivated at the moment: quite sudden, I’m aware, but I feel like we should be more grateful for what we have. I’m doing what I LOVE right now and what I’m passionate about. I really want to keep doing this whole blogging and youtube thing forever guys. I love it!

Anyways, cheesiness aside, this salad is so bomb. It’s hearty and filling and so full of flavour but doesn’t leave you bloated! And it’s a warm salad filled with roasted veggies (aka my fave)!

The pesto was actually a bit of an accident as I had an abundance of basil but no nuts so I decided to experiment and voila: delicious pesto was made!

Also, sorry for the crazy lighting – the sun kept coming out then hiding again!

Pea Pesto vegan, gluten free, dairy free
Serves 2

This isn’t a regular pesto, but it’s a great dressing or dip. The sweetness of the petit pois comes through whilst the basil gives and earthiness. Feel free to add nuts to give it more texture! It would also taste great in a bowl with some grains and veggies too! I also have a 1 minute video tutorial here!

1/2 cup petit pois
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup water (substitute with extra virgin olive)
1/2 clove of garlic
Squeeze of lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil

Optional: nutritional yeast, pine nuts, Brazil nuts or cashews

Add all ingredients to a blender for a smooth texture, or add to a food processor/ mortar and pestle.

Taste and add any extra seasoning if necessary!

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Pea Pesto vegan, gluten free, dairy free
Serves 1

This is the perfect warming salad filled with lots of textures and flavours from the vegetables. The ‘pesto’ adds a lovely sweetness and her bones to the dish, but if you don’t have any on hand, it would still be great dressed with lemon and olive oil!

Handful of green beans
1/2 courgette, sliced into rounds
Handful of baby potatoes, sliced into quarters
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Basil leaves
Pea Pesto (recipe above)

Preheat oven to 160ºC.

Massage all the vegetables in olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place in oven for about 20 minutes, flip them around and leave for a further 10 minutes or until cooked.

Add some water or olive oil to the pea pesto to make it more pourable.

Place vegetables in a bowl and pour dressing over the top.

Garnish with extra basil and serve!