Hey everyone! Happy Indian Food Wednesday! Who’s celebrating?!
The pilot and I ended up staying awake until the wee hours of the morning, trying to get Viesa acclimated to her new muzzle. It proved unsuccessful.. she HATED it. We got one of the nice mesh ones, and even cut it in half so she could open her mouth wider, and she was not a fan. Since I’m picking up Bella in Orlando tomorrow, we need to think of something to keep them from fighting until we can find a home for Vies. Bah for puppy problems.
This morning, I slept in like a lazy bum and grabbed some fruit before beginning the cleaning extravaganza.
I picked up around the casa –still a lot to do, the pilot has been living bachelor-style for the past month and our road trip stuff is everywhere- and then hit up the commiscary for some groceries.
It felt nice to make a bfast for the pilot and pack his lunch, just like the good ol’ days 
(He had a two-egg omelet with pepper jack cheese, two slices of Earth grain bread with Smart Balance and jelly)
And I glanced outside expecting my basil and herbs to be dead, but to my surprise, they were flourishing!!
They screamed, “MAKE PESTO WITH ME!!!!”
So I listened.
Pesto Pasta with Roasted Veggies
For the veggies:
Cut up veggies of choice (I used baby bella mushrooms, campari tomatoes and onion) and toss with EVOO, sea salt and pepper. Spread onto a Texflexx sheet and dehydrate for 1-2 hours until “roasted”. (If you don’t have a dehydrator, no worries, just toss them onto a baking sheet and heat your oven up to 300. Turn the heat off, and put the veggies into the oven with the door slightly cracked for an hour or so )
Before:
After:
For the pesto:
-1/2 cup fresh basil
-1/2 cup spinach
-1/4 cup raw walnuts
-juice 1/2 lemon
-EVOO, salt and pepper to taste
-1-2 garlic cloves
Pulse to combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil. Stream the olive oil in last, taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
For the pasta:
1 medium zucchini, spiralized (If you don’t have a spiralizer, just cut it into thin strips.
Toss the zucchini with the pesto.
And serve with the “roasted” veggies.
Ehh, it was pretty darn tasty 
Let me know if you give it a try!
As far as the workout situation goes, I’m planning on doing a yoga podcast as soon as my pasta digests and then meeting Jeni for cardio, weights and dinner.
Hope you have a wonderful day!
xoxo,
G
Today’s tip: Spinach is excellent in pesto because it has a very mild flavor and can the reduce the amount of basil you need; another great thing about spinach is that it doesn’t oxidize, so when you pulverize or blend it, it retains its lovely green shade. A lot of herbs turn murky brown when you process or blend them—spinach and parsley are great alternatives
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Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
Wow!! The pasta with fresh pesto looks amazing…sure wish we lived closer! Sorry to hear the muzzle was a no go…I hope it all works out! I will keep my eyes open for anything that could help! Have a safe drive to Orlando!! Miss ya girl!
That ‘pasta’ looks amazing! I love making pesto with arugula..so yummy and spicy!
That looks so delicious! My spiralizer kind of sucks so my noodles are never very pretty and for some reason that makes me want to not make zucchini pasta. Lame excuse, I know. I need to get on this ASAP.
I still can’t do raw zucchini, i’m not sure why! I think its a texture thing… but i’m trying the dehydrated roasted veggie thing over the weekend, and DEFINITELY the pesto too
you might just need to try spiralized zucchini with good sauce. i don’t like plain raw cut-up zucchini, but spiralized tastes great to me
Delicious looking pesto!!! You chose my fav veggies to roast. Yum, hope you enjoyed
oh i did
those veggies were gloooooorious
Thanks for the pesto spinach tip!
I have been craving pesto for the past few days and that looks amazing! I love when raw meals don’t look “raw.” I really thought that you had spaghetti macaroni and not zucchini, you sure fooled me!
this looks amazing!! I just fell upon your blog and love it =)
well thank you for stopping by!
hopefully we’ll see ya around here more often
PESTO PERFECTION!!! Love it
Hang in there with Viesa’s adjustment xo
Love the pesto recipe b/c there are no pine nuts in there nor a ridic amt of garlic. Usually they have both. I just dont normally keep pine nuts on hand but always have walnuts. Yum….this will be getting made soon, I’ll keep ya posted!
That pesto looks great! I have some basil left over from pasta I made last night, so this just might have to get made tomorrow night! I love the idea of adding spinach. YUM.
I can’t imagine what our house would look like if I left Josh alone for that long
Hope you get the puppers situation figured out. YUM- the pesto dish looks incredible
Homemade pesto! Incredible lady. I want that NOW por favor. Sorry the pup isn’t happy with the muzzle
Hopefully that will all be sorted out soon.
Wow that looks great. I need a spiralizer!
WOW-that looks absolutely amazing! I was curious-what is a spiralizer and where can I find one. I have heard it before, but have no clue about it.
Thanks!
hey lauren,
a spiralizer is an awesome little gadget that cuts veggies into noodle type strands. you can also use it to make flat noodles and julienne. the one i use is a joyce chen model (bought online at cooks tools) and it was about $30. you can cut zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, beet, jicama, radish, carrots.. any firm veggie with one!
thank you so much for the response. I am definitely getting myself one of those!
GORGEOUS lunch. All that hard work at school paid off for you
So so sorry about the puppy situation
I don’t know what I would do if one of my pups turned on the other 
Hand in there!
Good lookin veggies.
I love today’s tip! I never knew that spinach kept the nice green color of pesto! Just another reason why spinach is one of the best foods ever!
trying those veggies asap- they look so yummy!
Hi Gina
I’m a blog fan from faraway New Zealand … I’ve never commented before but I had to tell you that you’ve inspired me to track down kelp noodles from Australia, and now a spiralizer is on the top of my ‘Must Have ASAP’ list. Thank you! I LOVE reading about your fun foodie life and exercise exploits. (I’m a Les Mills fanatic
hi michelle!! thanks so much for saying hi
SO COOL you’re in new zealand! that’s awesome you found some kelp noodles, i’m on a mission for some this week 
have a great day <3
I am going to try the pesto pasta with roasted veggies on Friday. I’m having a pasta party for me and the girls before we do an 8k run on Saturday morning. It looks fabulous and still light, so our tummies won’t be all gluggy on Saturday while we’re running. Thanks Gina!
I thought of you when I had my curry for dinner tonight
Interesting fact on the spinach – one of those things I hadn’t really thought about but spinach does always retain it’s prettiness doesn’t it.
I hope things work out with Viesa, it’s so sad you and the pilot have to be in this situation.
I LOVE pesto! Your pesto recipe sounds amazing!! Poor pupper problems – I hope you guys figure out something
Sorry you have to go through all of that!
This meal looks fantastic! I love today’s tip too, I never thought of adding in spinach to pesto before
Yummers!
I have had much success making spinach and walnut pesto in the past…with lots of garlic, which I love!
Mmmm your lunchie looks fabulous! So pretty, too! I seriously want a spiralizer.
Wow, your 105 Degrees skills are really showing. This looks beautiful!
That looks wonderful. I can’t wait to try it!
OMG! That dish looks amazing! And I love kitchen gadgets, so I immediately ran to Bed Bath and Beyond hoping to get a spiralizer today, but they don’t carry them! =( I guess I’ll have to order online and WAIT to get it! It seems like the perfect way to sneak in the veggies to my kids food, too!
Thanks for sharing and welcome home!
yummy pesto! great work
jenna
Nice! Adding a spiralizer to my holiday gift wish list. That ‘pasta’ looks incredible!
Oohhh I love a good pesto! You are SO lucky to grown your own herbs. I can’t wait till I live somewhere I can do that to. Sigh…Saudi Arabia doesn’t really have the climate to support much of anything….
What kind of spiralizer do you have, I want to get one & it seems reviews on most are a mixed bag
That pesto looks amazing.
Can you post a link of where to purchase the spiralizer you use? Or e-mail me
Thanks!
of course!
here ya go
http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Chen-Saladacco-Spiral-Slicer/dp/B0000DDVYE
I made a version of your pesto last night! And made spiralized zucchini! It was AMAZING. Thanks for the inspiration!!!
http://www.biochemista.com/2009/12/wicked-great-weekend-im-from-nh-okay.html
Hi,
Is there a recipe here somewhere for the onion bread?
Okay wait, wait, wait… the “pasta” noodles are really zucchini? I don’t get it.