Nuts + Greens = Creative Dinner

Over the past few years I have tired to change my cooking style from one of following recipes to one of following my heart and my taste buds.   I still love to learn technique or try out the most fabulous of a Pinterest posted recipe but I am really trying to look at what is available to me, either ingredients or recipes,  for inspiration.

One simple way I have found to do this is making pesto.  I love pesto.  But well sometimes the good old-fashioned basil and pine nut gets a bit boring.  So, I grab a green out of the fridge ... parsley, kale, chickweed ... and I grab some nuts from the snack jar on the counter ... pecans, walnuts, cashews ... and I blend them together in the food processor with a little olive oil and salt.  Voila!  Dinner inspired by basic pesto but brought to a whole new level of creativity by paring a nut and a green.

I have done it with other dishes too.  Lasagna is just a pasta , sauce, meat and cheese.  the classic combo is lasagna noodles, tomato sauce, ground beef and mozzarella.  But how about linguine, bechamel sauce, ground lamb and goat cheese?

YOUR TURN:
Pick a simple recipe that you like to make and break down the components into things like "nuts", "greens", "beans" etc.  Then let go and use that combo to inspire you to create some new dishes.