Microgreens Cashew Spread

Flavorful and nutritious spread made with microgreens and creamy cashews for your morning eggs , pasta, and sandwiches! The spread fits vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, keto, and paleo-lifestyle!

1st recipe of 2019 and it’s a total keeper for last minute pasta, eggs in the morning, or as a spread for your sandwich. Past couple of months, I have been slacking on meal planning and cooking at home unless you count soft-boiled eggs on sushi rice or quick stir-fry. I am however determined to get back to meal planning and stock up my pantry & fridge with nourishing ingredients, like Microgreens Cashew Spread. I was at The Clearfork Farmers Market over the weekend and picked up microgreens from TexSelect Farms. If you are a FW local, you should definitely stop by their booth. I personally appreciate and support their commitment to innovative urban farming, efforts in reducing food mileage, and sustainable greenhouse practices to bring specialty greens, microgreens, and fresh herbs to us locally. This week, I picked up rainbow microgreens, cilantro microgreens, and radish shoots which I turned into “Microgreens Cashew Spread”. It’s a close cousin to pesto and I hesitated calling it “pesto” because it doesn’t have classic pesto ingredients like basil (Genovese to be specific), extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts and grated cheese. .

Microgreens Cashew Spread has a handful of different microgreens blended in with creamy cashews, garlic, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. I suggest using this recipe as an inspiration to make your variation of microgreens spread using whatever greens, microgreens, and herbs you have on hand.

Nutritionally speaking, microgreens contain concentrated amounts of vitamins and minerals compared to regular greens and it’s a fun way to introduce more greens into your life. In the culinary world, I see microgreens being used mostly as a garnish but you can use them regularly to top of soup or stew, eat as a salad, with sandwich/wraps…and the obvious Microgreens Cashew Spread.

I am super late to cashew-based everything craze but now I totally get it. Raw, unsalted cashews soaked in hot water overnight, and blended turns into a super creamy cashew paste. It has a pourable consistency, the texture is creamy (not gritty at all) , and has a very mild taste which makes them a great candidate for cheese-based sauce.

You can make Microgreens Cashew Spread ahead of time and store in an airtight jar in the fridge and use as needed. The consistency of the spread can be thick or thin depending on what you intend to use for. I used mine with eggs in the morning, used as a spread on a sandwich and made quick pasta with artichokes. You can also thin it out and use as a salad dressing.

MICROGREENS CASHEW SPREAD

makes about 1- 8oz mason jar

Ingredients
4 oz raw, unsalted cashew nuts
3 handful microgreens ( I used a mix of rainbow microgreens, micro cilantro, radish shoots)
4-5 garlic clove ( I overdid on garlic so suggest going little less than picture above)
juice from 1 large lemon, use per taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Soak cashews in hot water overnight. Drain water.
In a high speed blender, blend cashews until creamy. Add little water only if needed.
In a food processor, add microgreens, garlic, blended cashews and blend until creamy.
Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Blend everything, taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.
Store in an airtight jar and store in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Note: Depending on the type of microgreens and herbs used, the taste may vary so you may have to adjust the acid and sweetness. Some microgreens are peppery or bitter than others so just be mindful when selecting the variety.

Poached Eggs with Microgreens Cashew Spread, side of Sourdough Bread

Next time you are at the market, I hope you will please pick up microgreens and give this “Microgreens Cashew Spread” a try. If you do, please share your creation @foodpleasurehealth or pin this for later.