Chipotle Cilantro Avocado Pesto

I am addicted to chipotle and I'm not talking about the restaurant.  There is that earthy, smokey bite that I just love from the chipotle, which are smoked jalapeño peppers.  In desperation once again to make something delicious, it seems like I've further outdone myself. 

The finished product

This pesto, as all the other homemade pestos I've made are quite easy.  Throw everything in a blender and just blend until smooth.  How easy can that be?  This time, I did not copy anyone else's recipe and just sat at the computer mulling about what I should make this evening.  Wasn't in the mood to make a curry dish, which seems to heat up the kitchen with all that cooking.

A couple nights ago when I made the taco salad, I thought about how refreshing and filling that salad was.  The only cooking was in the meat, and there was plenty of raw veggies.  As my frig is stocked with lots of veggies, I sorted through my mind as to what I wanted in this salad, which is not your ordinary salad.  Anyway, I thought to dress up the chicken I was planning on using for this salad, this pesto would be a perfect compliment.

This keeps in the frig for about 2 weeks, which I've used this in a number of recipes.  The pesto does get a little darker due to the avocados, but that's alright.  It's still tasty good!

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

Forgot to include the olive oil

This is actually 2 bunches of cilantro - I use the stems also

• 2 bunches of cilantro (for me, this was a tight handful)
• 3 ripe avocados
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• juice of 2 limes (not key limes, but regular limes)
• 1 tspn sea salt
• 1 tspn cumin
• 1 tspn chipotle powder (or 1 ground up chipotle pepper, or 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce)
• 1/2 tspn cayenne pepper
• 1 tspn chili powder

Directions:

• Blend everything in a blender until smooth.

I like to process the cilantro first a little

One of my limes was looking almost gone

Throw everything except for the spices in - I drizzle the oil in with the lid on

It took a few minutes to get it to this level - everything smooth

No I'm adding in all the spices from left to right counter clockwise - chipotle powder, chili powder, sea salt, cayenne pepper, cumin

• Serve with protein of your choice.