Pesto for Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner

After I'd made up a big batch of pesto and frozen most of it (see my earlier post Pesto--How to Make It and Freeze It), I had a small container left in the fridge and decided to have a Pesto-themed menu for the day. That meant pesto for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sound boring? Sound like maybe too much of a good thing? I wondered that, too. After all, I am a girl who likes variety in her foods.

So, I set out to see if I could enjoy 3 pesto-related meals in one day. Could I use my favorite condiment to flavor 3 meals without them all tasting alike? 

Happy to report: Mission Accomplished.

Like my 8 Fast and Easy Appetizers with Pesto, these ideas for adding some pesto flair to breakfast, lunch, and dinner are so simple that they require very little explanation. But, that's really what I like about pesto. It makes it so easy to make a variety of foods taste delish.

So here was my menu for the day.

Breakfast: Pesto Scrambled Eggs

2 eggs + 1/2 Tablespoon Pesto = Fantastically delicious scrambled eggs.

Done. Enough Said. Just try it.

View & print Pesto Scrambled Eggs recipe

Lunch: Salad with Pesto Dressing

Pesto Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Pesto

Shake it all up and toss it with your favorite salad combo of greens and veggies.

In case you'd like to know, my salad had romaine lettuce with some spring greens, mini heirloom tomatoes, roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts, cucumber, kalamata olives, red onion. And, a hunk of whole grain bread on the side. 

The nutrition police were very happy with my lunch choice.

View & print Pesto Vinaigrette recipe

Dinner: Pesto Pasta

Now here's a difficult recipe for you:
1 Tablespoon of pesto per cup of cooked pasta.
Mix it. 

Better wipe my brow, that was hard.

This is the classic way to serve pesto--just mix it with your favorite pasta. It can be a main course, or a great side dish with just about any fish or meat.

I like mine with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on it:

Or, you can easily jazz it up by mixing in some sauteed veggies.

I sauteed yellow squash, mushrooms, and red bell peppers. This is where you can get creative. I'm having a hard time thinking of a veggie that wouldn't be good tossed with pesto pasta.

You can also add some sauteed or grilled chicken, shrimp, or scallops to the pasta/veggie mix. Now we're talking major main course.

View & print Pasta with Pesto recipe

So, there you have it. Pesto for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Have I made a believer out of you yet? I've said it before, let me say it again: pesto is the ultimate convenience food.

Believe it.

Let me know what you conjure up with pesto. The sky is the limit.

Make it a yummy day!

Related posts:

• Pesto--How to Make It and Freeze It 
• 8 Fast and Easy Appetizers with Pesto
• Pesto Chicken Slider Sandwiches

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