Persimmon Salad and Broccoli Pesto

This past week I tried out some new recipes, and I had a couple of winners that I wanted to share!  

First off is Persimmon Salad with Honey Pistachios.  'Tis the season for persimmons!  Be sure to use the small, squat and firm FUYU persimmons (as opposed to the elongated Hachiya) for this recipe.  I subbed spinach for my baby greens and dried cherries for the cranberries, but either way it's delicious!  

Now I love pesto except for two things:  first, it typically uses way too much oil, and second, with all of the basil in there you have to eat it right away lest it turns brown.  Enter in this Broccoli Pesto Pasta recipe!  Blanched broccoli keeps the pesto a vibrant green even for next day leftovers.  Also, you will note that the recipe calls for a CUP of oil, and has you use some of the pasta water to get the right consistency--instead, I made this with mostly pasta water and cut the oil way down.  And guess what--it was still great!  

So give them a whirl, together or separately and tell me what you think!