Arugula Pesto and Zucchini on Rye-Toast
A delicious open-face sandwich layered with tangy lime/arugula pesto sauce, sliced avocado and sautéed zucchini on rye toast. A healthy sandwich that sneaks in extra greens - perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Walking around Santa Cruz last week on an empty stomach I stumbled upon a tiny coffee shop nestled between an old theatre and vintage clothing store. I scanned the menu and stopped right when I saw an open-face avocado and pesto sandwich. With that trip and quaint coffee shop in mind I recreated the sandwich adding sautéed zucchini, a tangy arugula pesto dressing and topped it off with fresh watercress (thank you Safeway for upping your veggie game!).
Adding a simple green sandwich recipe to your repertoire is a brilliant way of subtly adding in extra greens to your day. While you’re at it, save the extra pesto and bring out the flavor of other dishes by dolloping it on top of quinoa and roasted veggies, swirled on brown rice pasta or drizzled within a kale salad. This pesto is heavy on peppery arugula and spinach. Adding a splash of lime juice mellows out the peppery arugula, leaving you with a creamy, yet slightly tangy pesto. This type of pesto brings out the mild flavors of the zucchini and nutty rye bread. Together this sandwich offers up one healthy, satisfying, filling, delicious, flavorful, green meal that I would be more than content eating everyday.
Serves: 2 slices
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients for the Pesto, Avocado and Zucchini Toast:
- 2 slices of rye toast (or any toast)
- 1/2 of an avocado
- 1/2 large zucchini
- bunch of watercress (optional)
- 1 garlic clove
Ingredients for the Arugula Pesto:
- 2 large handfuls of arugula
- 1 cup pine nuts (or any nut)
- 1 large handful of spinach
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions:
Start by making the arugula pesto by placing all the ingredients into a food processor and whip up until the pesto becomes smooth and creamy. Then sauté the zucchini by first cutting it into very thin horizontal slices. Warm the roughly chopped garlic clove, olive oil, sprinkle of sea salt and few splashes of water to a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the zucchini and sauté for 7 minutes – slowly add water if the zucchini starts to dry out as it cooks. Toast the bread then spread the pesto across the toast, add the zucchini and sliced avocado, and top with watercress!
I hope you guys love this sandwich! It really is an incredibly filling lunch that keeps your satisfied for hours on end. I haven't been able to stop eating and thinking about it - so delicious!
Also, thank you guys for tagging me on instagram showing me all your 8th and lake creations! Its really cool to wake up to your beautiful photos of the food from the blog :) You can find me at #8thandlake or click on the link below.
xx Marie