Recipe #7 - Lemony pesto bean and cheese salad

Ryan apparently had an unfortunate pesto experience before I met him, and has refused to eat it since. I decided to try again, and listed the ingredients in my pesto for him. He liked all the ingredients and agreed to give it a try, and success. Here is what I did with it.

Ingredients for salad
1 can canneloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half length-wise
1 cucumber, unpeeled, cut into comparable size chunks as tomatoes
approx 1c ciliegine (little cherry size) .33 ounce balls fresh mozzarella (I just buy a container and use the whole thing)
juice from 2 small lemons (1/4c)

Mix these ingredients together and add pesto, refrigerate for at least 30min to allow the flavors to meld.

Pesto Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1c loosely packed fresh basil
1/4c loosely packed fresh baby spinach
1/4c extra virgin olive oil
1 ounce parmesano reggiano or pecorino romano (this is one instance where I prefer the latter)
peel from one lemon
1/3c pan roasted (shelled) pine nuts (or walnuts)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients except olive oil, salt, and pepper, into food processor and puree, drizzle olive oil in as mixture combines. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add to salad and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. Also very good as pizza sauce, pasta sauce, or on a baked potato or meat.

For Ryan I served this salad with salmon, although I don't really care for salmon, I thought it'd make a nice combo with the strong flavors of the pesto. Ryan tested, Ryan approved.