Edamame Pasta Salad with Arugula Mint Pesto

It is pesto season.  The part of the year when our gardens and refridgerators are all filled with lots of greens and herbs just begging to be blended to perfection with nuts, garlic and oils.  I love that the possibilities are endless when it comes to pesto ingredients.  Afterall, there are no rules.  Although the classic basil always gets made a lot at my house, all sorts of greens find their way into my pesto.  Tonight when I decided that pesto pasta sounded delicious, I grabbed a bunch of arugula and a bunch of mint and got to work. 

I had never combined these two ingredients before in a pesto, but an experiment was in order.  I combined them with pepitas that I had in my fridge as well, because at the moment I was out of walnuts and pine nuts.  The rest of the ingredients I added to the pesto were ones I would use in a classic pesto,   but it had such a different vibrant flavor than any other pesto I have made due to the peppery arugula and fresh strong mint.  I kept it vegan this time and skipped adding any cheese since the pepitas and the olive oil had already contributed plenty of richness.  I decided that this salad needed to have lots of veggies as well in addition to the pasta, so I added edamame for protein, and radishes and carrots for color as well as crunch.  It was all quite a delicious combination!  If you are in pesto making mode as well, here is the recipe if you would like to try some for yourself! 

Edamame Pasta Salad with Arugula Mint Pesto

Serves 4

Pesto:

1/2 cup mint

1 cup arugula

1 cup pepitas

2 lemons
4 garlic
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

8 oz penne pasta
10 radishes, thinly sliced
3 medium carrots, cut julienne
1/2 cup pepitas
1 12 oz bag frozen edamame, thawed

Place all pesto ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  Set aside.  Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse with water, drain and let cool.  In a large bowl, combine pasta, radishes, carrots, pepitas, and edamame.  Add pesto and toss to coat.  Serve at room temperature.

Roasted Yam and Edamame Salad

As a child I thought yams were gross, because the only ones I had been exposed to were the super sticky canned sweet ones at thanksgiving that were topped with jumbo marshmallows and baked.  I always dreaded my Mom telling me to take a little of everything and having to eat some of those!  Good thing I have since had the privlidge of roasting my own fresh yams, my mind has completely changed!  I could simply roast a large yam, cut it open, squeeze a lime over it and sprinkle it with sea salt to enjoy alone.  I love yams that much, and if you get a good one it is the perfect amount of sweet!  In the deli I work in we make yam fries, and there are always a few missing from the cooling tray since they are so good that someone always swipes a few.  Roasted yams are a healthy comfort food, and I love them in salads as well!  So I decided to combine them with edamame in a winter salad with an orange dressing last night for a light dinner.  You know, the type that leaves you feeling comforted but not all heavy.  It was beautiful with the green edamame and orange garnet yams, and even better it was delicious!  Here is the recipe if you wish to enjoy it...

Roasted Yam and Edamame Salad

Serves 4-6

2 large garnet yams, cut into small cubes

peanut oil

1 12 oz bag frozen organic shelled edamame, thawed
2 small shallots,thinly sliced
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing:
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp peanut oil

1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 475 degrees, line a sheet pan with foil, and spray with non-stick spray.  Toss yams with olive oil and spread out on sheet pan.  Roast for about 20-25 minutes until starting to brown at the edges and are tender and cooked through.  Remove from oven and let cool.  When cooled, combine with edamame, shallots, pecans, and cranberries in a large bowl.  Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over salad.  Toss well to coat, and serve!