Recipe: Broccoli sprout pesto

What if I told you that some foods are like a superhero: They pack a punch AND protect your body from all the baddies, one bite at a time. Yes, I’m being serious.

Well, friends, microgreens do exactly this! Microgreens are the young seedlings of edible veggies and herbs. They are typically harvested less than 14 days after germination, are nutrition packed and have the flavour of a grown plant. But – get this – they contain four to 40 times more nutrients than their mature counterparts! (Read more about it here, if you don’t believe me.)

So yes they are baby plants/veggies… but, like, imagine they were ninja babies. Exactly. They help to reduce the chances of diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and certain cancers… so one could say that they are the Mr Miyagi of veggies.

These ninja foods use to be a thing that you would find in health shops and in the trolleys of the hip and health conscious. (So, like, not people like me then). But more peeps are incorporating them into their dishes now. Some even prefer them, over their mature counterparts, due to the added antioxidant and phytonutrients.

Anyways, I know I sound uber in-the-know about microgreens but I honestly only learnt about it about a week ago, when Eaton Greens asked me to try out some of their ninja microgreens. I was challenged to make a recipe using the power packed brocolli sprouts and cherry belle radishes. I mean, you obvz can incorporate them into basically any type of dish (salads, stews etc). But I wanted to be extra. And so here we are.

I give to you a DELICIOUS pesto recipe that is both yummy AND especially good for your body. What a score, right?

Broccoli Sprout Pesto

Ingredients 

2 cups of broccoli sprout (you can use cherry belle radishes too – or mix them together!)

Half cup of parmesan cheese

Half cup of sunflower seeds

3 cloves of garlic (crushed)

Half teaspoon of salt

Olive oil as needed

Lemon juice as needed

Method

Add everything (except olive oil and lemon juice) to the food processor and blend, stopping inbetween to add a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice until you are happy with the consistency. That’s basically it!

This pesto is very pungent and so devine! I stirred some into full cream plain yoghurt to make a creamy dip. Trust me, you want to try this! What a yummy way to get your nutrients in.

Eaton Greens stocks a variety of microgreens and they are so well priced at only R25 per tub. I love that their aim is to educate others on how to grow your own microgreens at home! In fact, they’ll soon be expanding their range and you will be able to pick up all goods (harvest trays etc) needed to harvest at home, straight from Eaton Greens. How cool, right? PE peeps can find Eaton Greens on Facebook or contact them via or 064 902 1055.

If you try out my pesto recipe please drop me a message to let me know!