Summer Means Basil and Basil Means Pesto
Friday, Jul 29, 2011
Summer means vegetable gardens, vegetable gardens means basil, and basil means pesto.
The week leading up to any vacation for my family and I (and this is one of those weeks) is one filled with planning, preparing, and trying to accomplish all the last minute to-do’s. Just one thing on the list is eating up everything in the fridge and our vegetable garden in an effort to waste nothing. As I was planning my family’s weekly menu Monday, according to what we have in the fridge, I looked out into our now prosperous vegetable garden and noticed the basil. Basil is one of my favorite summer herbs, but is also one that will be growing rampant if gone untouched for a couple of weeks. And so in an effort to use as much basil before we left, I was inspired to make pesto.
Pesto serves so many benefits. It is a great addition to sandwiches, pasta, or as a marinade for meat and veggies, but my favorite part about pesto is how long it will last if stored properly. When stored in an air tight container, pesto can be refrigerated or frozen. The trick is to add a bit of oil before serving. I use walnuts in my pesto because they are less expensive and I tend to have them in my pantry more than pine nuts. My other secret ingredient is grapeseed oil instead of everyday olive oil. The health benefits of grapeseed oil are countless, but to name a few it is lower in saturated fat, helps lower your bad cholestoral, and is high in vitiman E and other antioxidants. When cooking, grapeseed oil has a nutty taste that really helps the flavor of food come through. With such few ingredients and the fact that it can be done all in the food processor, I tend to make a couple batches of pesto and freeze all but one. What’s on tonight’s menu? Basil Walnut Pesto Chicken…I can’t wait!