One thing my toddler loves these days: pesto! Which means, we’ve been making huge batches and putting it on all the things. Some of our favorite ways to use homemade pesto include:

-Roasted veggies and sautéed veggies
-Cooked proteins such as salmon and chicken
-Zoodles and pasta
-Sandwiches with sourdough bread and sun-dried tomatoes (and goat cheese, and arugula, and YUM)
-As a salad dressing on quick and easy salads to provide a boost of flavor and summer ingredients

This easy pesto is the perfect salad dressing for this Smoked Salmon Salad. Smoky salmon is accentuated by rich and vibrant pesto, bright sun-dried tomatoes, crunchy pumpkin seeds and avocado.

Pesto and Smoked Salmon Salad

serves 4

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Simple basic pesto:
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 Tbsp. pine nuts
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 lemon, juiced
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Smoked salmon salad:
8 cups mixed baby greens
1 cucumber, halved and sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (packed in extra virgin olive oil)
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 (8 ounce) pieces smoked salmon, broken into chunks

Directions:

1. Make the pesto: combine fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts lemon juice, and Parmesan in a food processor and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Process until combined. With the motor running, slowly add extra virgin olive oil until pesto is emulsified. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

2. Prepare the salad: to a large salad bowl add mixed baby greens, cucumber, avocado, pumpkin seeds, and pieces of smoked salmon. Toss with 1/4 cup pesto, adding more if salad seems to dry. Serve immediately!

3. Leftover pesto will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.