Green Recipes for St. Patrick's Day

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, Ashley joined the team at Mass Appeal to share two of her go-to green recipes. You can watch the segment and find the recipes below. 

Watch Clip

Kale Arugula Pesto Pasta
Ingredients:
½ bunch flat leaf parsley
2 cups baby kale or arugula
2-4 tbs. mint or basil
1 lemon zested and juiced
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ to 1/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
Optional: ¼ cup almonds or nut of choice

Instructions:
In a food processor add in parsley, kale and mint or basil and pulse until roughly chopped. Zest and juice the lemon into the food processor and add the pecorino romano cheese. Turn the food processor on low and stream in the olive oil until the pesto just comes together.
To combine with pasta, save a ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Add some of the pesto into the bottom of a mixing bowl, and add the pasta and a few tablespoons of the pasta water.
Toss until well combined and the consistency you desire.

Pistachio Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios
2 cups cake flour or AP flour (GF free flour works too)
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cardamom
½ tsp. sea salt
1 ¼ cups coconut sugar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. vanilla extract
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup plain Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt
4 tbs. lemon zest

Frosting:
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 ½ cups powdered sugar
Pinch salt

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center position. Grease the bottom and sides of three (8-inch) round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, then dust the pans with flour, knocking out excess. Using a food processor, pulse the pistachios until finely ground. Add the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt, pulse 3-4 times to well combined. In a large bowl, mix together the coconut sugar, olive oil, vanilla, eggs, coconut yogurt, and lemon zest. Fold in the flour mixture. Divide the batter among the 3 baking pans. Tap each pan on the counter a few times to level the batter and get out any bubbles. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a baking rack for 10 minutes.
To make the frosting: Add the butter, lemon juice, vanilla, salt and powdered sugar to a large bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Decorate the cake once it is cooled and add extra chopped pistachios on top.