Are you back to more takeout than homemade meals? The “trying out new recipes” aspect of quarantine life has not left my home; I personally started to experience a different relationship with food, and it is due in part to the risks I have been taking in the kitchen.

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I developed new habits during this time — silver linings, right? — and one of them is choosing homemade, nutritious meals over fast food or takeout. I’m not perfect, nor am I trying to be, so I have my guilty pleasures here and there.

It’s safe to say Monique Volz from Ambitious Kitchen is one of my current top 5 favorite food bloggers. I have been following her for years and have tried SO many of her recipes in that time. Last week she shared the recipe for her homemade pesto that includes cilantro and pistachio. While I know there are endless variations of pesto, I never really read a recipe that ditched pine nuts and basil entirely.

Her recipe is delicious; it’s packed with bright and bold flavors and it does not call for cheese — perfect if you’re vegan or lactose intolerant. I searched the site a bit more and found her Date Night in Cilantro Pistachio Pesto Shrimp Pasta recipe, exactly what I had in mind to do with the pesto. Every single ingredient complemented the others, and for the sake of transparency, I definitely got up for a second helping.

I ended up making the pesto again for my family and served it as a dip with whole-grain pita chips and celery sticks, and it was a hit!

If you’re looking for delicious, healthy and easy recipes to change things up at dinner time, I highly recommend you check her out.

— Yasser Ogando, production & advertising coordinator