Putting in a small herb garden is a wonderful way to have the most important ingredient on hand for a meal, and of course the herbs are what can elevate your meal from mediocre to fabulous! One of my favorite herbs is basil. To me basil smells like summer. I grow a small patch every year to make pesto.
This is my favorite recipe for pesto, it is easy and delicious. It can be used on fish, chicken, in rice, on sautéed veggies, as a dip for raw veggies, in homemade tomato basil soup; there is no end to the way you can use it. Basil is used in Ayurvedic and herbal medicine as an adaptogen. You may have heard of holy basil, also known as tulsi. It’s often used as a tea to improve health, up-regulating or down-regulating adrenal glands as needed. I put my pesto in ice cube trays and freeze it, then transfer it to jars for storing. You can easily access one cube at a time as needed for cooking. And if you make enough, it’s available throughout the winter.
Garden Fresh Pesto
(Serves 4 – 6)
Ingredients:
- 3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (use fresh cheese)
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
- Fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1/2 to 2/3 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, adding enough olive oil to make a nice smooth but thick sauce.
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