If you ask me, one of the best things to plant in a garden is basil. There are so many things you can do with basil… you can make bruchetta, pesto, serve atop pasta… add to fancy drinks, add to salads… or you can just dry it out and save it for later! Not to mention, deer dislike basil, so having lots of basil plants around your garden may help keep the deer from eating your veggies before you do! I have a small boxed garden full of basil plus several basil growing in pots that I move around the garden wherever I feel necessary!
This is a simple recipe I threw together that turned out DELICIOUS! It probably made somewhere between 3/4 – 1 cup. Mmmmm! Good thing I have about 15 basil plants outside because we devoured this batch in a day! I was REALLY surprised at how much my kids enjoyed eating this pesto! YAY! I love when my kids surprise me and really enjoy something I was hesitant to serve them! (Especially when its so healthy!) Next time I think we may even try it on spaghetti noodles instead of sauce!
(I found that you can really pack basil into a measuring cup, so it I think it depends on how much basil you have to how hard you pack it in. My advice – just use your best judgement!)
Basil Walnut Pesto
Simply blend it all in the food processor, adding the oil in last. I kinda pulsed all my ingredients together but then I just let it blend when I added the oil! I guess it depends on how you like your pesto! Feel free to sub pine nuts for the walnuts, but don’t forget that using walnuts adds all those yummy omega-3 oils!
- 1/3 cup toasted walnuts
- 1 cup basil, packed, but not crammed
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- < 1 Tbsp lemon juice (preferably fresh)
- crank/dash of pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (instead of Parmesan)
Here is our pesto on a french baguette with diced tomato… serve with balsamic vinegar on the side for ultimate yumminess!
Pesto makes a great pizza sauce instead of your traditional tomato sauce!
Your Vegan Neighbor 