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Cooking in tonight? Prepping for the week ahead? Make up some pesto! You can put it all together in less than five minutes and spoon it over tonight's meal or freeze it for later use.

The fun thing about this recipe is that you can sneak in some veggies without anyone knowing or tasting them. The sauce is green anyways, so why not toss in a handful of spinach for a boost of vitamin K, iron, and folic acid?

Pro tip: If you do freeze your pesto, store it in ice cube trays so that you can easily pop a few cubes into the pan! Also, I recommend leaving the parmesan out if you are freezing it and adding it to your meal on the night of.

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Ingredients:

(Yields: 1 ½ cups | Time: 5min)

- 3 cups baby spinach

- 1 cup fresh basil leaves

- ½ cup toasted pine nuts

- ½ cup parmesan cheese (or dairy-free alternative)

- 4 cloves garlic

- ½ cup olive oil

- ½ lemon

- ½ tsp. lemon zest (optional)

- ½ tsp. salt

- pinch of pepper

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Instructions:

1. Place spinach, basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a food processor. Blend together until smooth.

2. As you blend, slowly drizzle the rest of the olive oil in.

3. Do a quick taste test to check if it needs anything extra. Sometimes I add more lemon, parmesan, or a few extra pine nuts. Serve or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.