Pesto kale, green beans and broccoli

(serves 2)

Recently we discovered another friend of kale - pesto! This green superfood has a strong bite-y taste and texture that the saltiness and oil in pesto perfectly complements as it helps to soften and coat these rough fibrous leaves. I had been running out of ideas of how to use this healthy vegetable so this was a welcome surprise! 

This is a great healthy side dish that's a mix of all the best greens, the perfect accompaniment to grilled/BBQ meat. Or if you're happy to stick with the vegetarian option, we had this as a salad with avocado and sweet cherry tomatoes on top!

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 20 min

Ingredients
5-6 branches of kale
1 broccoli
50g green beans
2 cloves garlic
3-4 T pesto
juice of 1/2 lime
olive oil (or basil-infused olive oil)
salt

To serve
1 avocado (optional)
1 punnet cherry tomatoes (optional)
handful of basil, to serve
handful of toasted pine nuts, to serve

Method
1. Chop the broccoli into bite-size pieces. Blanch for 2-3 minutes until just soft.
2. Tip and tail the green beans. Wash, dry, salt and the leave for 5 minutes. Pat with a paper towel after before putting in the frypan.
3. Wash and break up the kale into bite-size pieces, leaving the stem.
4. Heat a frypan on medium heat and add in canola oil (or 1 T coconut oil). Finely slice the garlic and add into the frypan.
5. Add in the green beans and sauté for 3 minutes. Add in the kale and plan the lid on to steam for 3 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes until kale and beans are soft. Add in the 2 T pesto and toss through.
6. Add in the broccoli and the remaining pesto and toss through. Drizzle with basil olive oil (or plain olive oil). Set aside to cool.
7. Cut the avocado into half, then cut the halves into small squares and spoon out into a small bowl.
8. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes. Add to the bowl with the avocados, then season with lime juice, olive oil, salt and fresh basil. 

I added this citrus mix to the greens mix as we were eating this for dinner, so thought we'd turn it into a salad, however if you're having as a side then you may want to leave this out

9. To serve, heap the avocado mix on top of the greens mix. Sprinkle with basil leaves and pine nuts and serve.

A healthy mix of greens for a side

Or a colourful and substantial salad