Roasted Carrots and New Potatoes With Arugula Pesto
[Vegan]

To Make the Carrots and Potatoes:

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
2. Wash the new potatoes and bring to a boil in a large pot of water. Gently boil for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork, but are not cooked to the point of being soft and mushy. It might seem strange to partially cook your potatoes by boiling before roasting, but this technique results in smoother, creamier potatoes.
3. Place the partially cooked potatoes onto a baking sheet and coat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Place the carrots that you have cut into coins onto another baking sheet, and also coat in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast the vegetables in a 425ºF oven for 25 minutes, flipping 15 minutes into cooking.
4. While the vegetable are roasting, make the arugula pesto.
5. Coat the roasted vegetables in the homemade arugula pesto and serve immediately.

To Make the Arugula Pesto:

1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil and water in a food processor or a blender. Blend until coarsely chopped.
2. While the food processor or blender is blending, pour in 1/4 cup of olive oil. This will make a thicker pesto. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, for a thinner pesto until the consistency you desire is reached. You can use olive oil instead of water for a more silky and richer pesto with the understanding that the fat content will increase.
3. Use immediately for best results. It can be stored for a few days in your refrigerator with a layer of olive oil poured on top, but will start to turn brown. This pesto can also be frozen and stored for a few months.