Pestos and Green Sauces: A Great Way to Get More Plants into Your Diet
Of all the sauces, my favourites are the green sauces and pestos. They are such a delicious way to get more nutrient dense foods into your diet. They are a great carrier for wild greens and a wide range of other herbs, not just basil. Other stronger tasting herbs and wild greens can be substituted in many of the classic green sauce recipes I share below. I also share my tips on how to best use these stronger flavours in recipes to make them taste great.
Herbs including wild greens are among the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. They are nutrient powerhouses. Let’s get more of them into our diets.
Green sauces and pesto are such a versatile condiment that can be added to almost any food. I love to put a dollop in my soups or stews, on hummus or dips or into my dressings. They are delicious to flavour wraps and buddha bowls. Great on avocados and eggs on toast, or any eggs for that matter. Use it on pizza or in pasta. They are amazing on fish and grilled meat – in fact, anything that’s been barbecued seems to respond well to green sauce. The sauces featuring parsley and lemon are particularly well suited to sardines 😉
These sauces are generally best consumed within 5 days. Less if you include bone broth. I sometimes add a tablespoon of sauerkraut juice or kefir to help preserve the sauce a bit longer in the fridge.
I find most of these green sauces freeze really well. In the summer when fresh herbs abound, green sauces are one of the best ways to preserve the flavour and spunk of these nutrient dense foods. Come winter I have a freezer full of green sauces to draw upon.
As you can see from the list, green sauces are found in most cultures around the world, each with their unique spices and flavouring, Choose based on the kind of flavour hit you are looking for and what you have on hand. Improvise. You really can’t go wrong.
THE CLASSIC GREEN SAUCES AND PESTOS
PARSLEY BASED GREEN HERB SAUCES
Everything Drizzle Green Herb Sauce with parsley and mint
Chimichurri a zesty South American lemon and parsley sauce. One of my favourites
Italian Salsa Verde featuring capers and optional anchovies
French Sauce Verte with capers and anchovies and classic french herbs
CILANTRO BASED GREEN HERB SAUCES
Green Harissa a Moroccan inspired green herb sauce with parsley and cilantro
Zhoug a Spicy Middle Eastern Cilantro Sauce
“GREEN GODDESS” DRESSINGS
Green Goddess Dressing using tahini
Green Goddess Dressing using yogurt
PESTO INSPIRED GREEN SAUCES FEATURING BASIL AND CILANTRO
Asian Inspired Pesto with Ginger, Cilantro, Mint and Parsley
GREEN SAUCES AND PESTOS USING OTHER CULINARY AND WILD HERBS
As you can see from the recipe above, the classic greens used in most of these sauces are parsley, basil, cilantro and mint. We can really use any combination of greens in these recipes however most other greens and herbs are stronger in flavour which means you will need to tweak the recipes a bit.
In addition to parsley, basil, cilantro and mint, some of the milder and more food-like greens for the base might include fennel tops, fenugreek leaf, chervil, arugula, watercress, salad greens, steamed kale. Of all the wild greens chickweed and purslane are among the mildest.
For the stronger tasting herbs you may want to consider adding some of the following such as sage, rosemary, savory, oregano, marjoram, mint, nasturtium leaf, gotu kola, lemon balm, chives, garlic scapes. Stronger and/or wild greens might include ramps, dandelion leaf and flower, lambs quarter, wild mustard etc.
WHEN USING OTHER GREENS KEEP THESE THINGS IN MIND
Make 100% sure you are identifying the plants correctly if harvesting from the wild
For the herbs with a strong flavour, we need to temper it to make the pesto or green sauce yummy. I share recipes and links below, but in the end it’s all about YOUR taste buds and what works for you.
The basic templates for pestos, green sauces and dressings for me would be the classic Italian basil pesto, the South American chimichurri and the Green Goddess dressings popularized in the 70s. Many of these classic sauces work so well because of the wide range or flavours included in them – bitter, salty, sour, spicy and umami. So figure out which of these flavours makes your taste buds sing and adjust appropriately.
Here are various ways to temper the flavours of stronger culinary herbs and wild greens to make your pesto or green sauce taste good:
· When using strong tasting herbs or wild greens which are often quite spicy and/or bitter in flavour, include milder greens in the base. Consider the common culinary herbs basil, cilantro, parsley - or even salad greens. Another thing that can be helpful when working with these stronger tasting greens is to add more substance to the sauce by including avocado, yogurt, tahini, mayo, roasted peppers, feta cheese or ground nuts and seeds.
· For sour and tangy think lemon or lime juice, vinegar (red wine vinegar is classic in Chimichurri), capers, olives, and yes even pickles (often seen in the classic French Sauce aud Verte). Classic Mexican Salsa Verde relies on lime juice and tomatillos. Roasted red peppers and/or tomatos - fresh, sundried or roasted can also provide a similar flavour profile as well as smoothing out the overall flavours.
· Umami flavours could include parmesan cheese or other cheese (feta works great), preserved lemon, worcestershire sauce, anchovies, fish sauce, miso, coconut aminos, tamari, porcini mushroom powder or nutritional yeast.
· For zippy or spicey flavours think onions, garlic, citrus zest, black pepper, mustard, ginger, horseradish, cayenne or really any variety of chilies.
· And don’t forget the salt. Salt is key to get the flavour right.
· High quality fat is key in these recipes. Not only does it temper the bitter, it also enhances the overall flavour, and helps your body absorb the nutrients of the greens. Everything tastes better with fat Extra virgin olive oil is a good base for most pestos and green herb sauces. You could also use avocados or avocado oil, and/or tahini (usually best thinned with some broth or water).
· Ground nuts or seeds are a common addition especially to pesto. They are great at tempering strong flavours however they tend so create a thicker consistency. If you are going for more of a chimichurri sauce-like texture, skip the nuts and seeds and add more olive oil and lemon or vinegar. If you want to create a salad dressing like consistency, you could thin the sauce with water, broth, yogurt and/or more oil and vinegar,. Avocados and tahini often feature in the classic “Green Goddess” dressings together with the addition of water or yogurt to reach the desired consistency.
A FEW RECIPES USING WILD GREENS AND OTHER HERBS
A template for making herb pesto including wild greens
Kami McBride is a wonderful kitchen inspired herbalist. She offers this free pdf download Pesto for All Seasons that is a useful framework for adapting pesto using herbs throughout the seasons.
Enjoy! 💜