Cilantro Pesto Pasta

I adapted a Cilantro Pesto recipe from the McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook and added a few things to make a pretty decent pasta dish.

Ingredients:

4 cups Cilantro Leaves

¼c Cashews

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 tsp Soy Sauce

1½ Tbsp Water

The recipe said to use a food processor, but I don't have one so I used a blender.  I am not sure what the difference between a food processor and a blender is, but it seemed to make a difference because the recipe did not blend too well.  I ended up adding more water than they called for and had to stop and mash down the ingredients a few times.  After a few minutes, I gave up.  

The pesto was very thick and I was not sure what to do with it in it's current state, so I warmed up ¼ cup olive oil in the microwave and mixed in a a bit of the pesto until it was a little more liquidy.  You can add as much olive oil as you like until you reach a good consistency.  The pesto is VERY strong, so a little bit goes a long way.  We added some to plain elbow macaroni and voila!