Woman to Woman

What's for Dinner? Spinach Pesto

Great, healthy meal for carb loaders or anyone in search of an easy meal

-Julie Ryan Evans

If you're training for a big endurance event, you know the importance of carb loading, but often the carbs we load ourselves with aren't the healthiest of sorts, and the heavy sauces and such that accompany the carbs come back to haunt us during said event.

Here's one of my favorites that's light and delicious and gets in some extra nutritional punch with several super foods. It's also one of our favorite family meals - even if the only endurance event we're preparing for is making it through a long day of summer with no scheduled activities.

All you need:

1 5-6 ounce bag of baby spinach leaves (preferably organic)
½ cup of pine nuts
½ cup of olive oil
½ cup of shredded parmesan cheese
2-3 cloves of garlic (or more if you love it like me!)
Salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in the food processor and blend until it's smooth. You can use it any way you use the traditional basil-based pesto. We like to toss it with some hot pasta (Barilla Plus is the best I swear for healthy and yummy at the same time) and some grilled chicken. And there you go - a complete meal. My friend Tracy (who originally gave me the recipe) likes to toss hers with cheese ravioli.

The pesto-bilities are endless.

What are some of your favorite easy, healthy meals?