Skip to main content

Perfecting Pesto

I don’t know about you but Pesto makes me happy. I always love making it and love it even more when I eat it. It’s easy to make and it can make any meal perfect! I know I’ve posted about pesto several times but you are just going to have to hear it again.

This week I picked up some fresh basil at the locally grown market. It smelled up the whole car. It was heavenly! I couldn’t wait to make pesto out of it but I didn’t get around to it till tonight. Good thing it was freshly picked and put into water. When you buy it at the grocery store, who knows how long it’s been picked.

IMAG0254IMAG0255

To make a quick and easy pesto follow these steps:

Make sure you have all your ingredients (parmesan, olive oil, basil, garlic cloves, and pine nuts)

IMAG0257

Start by putting your basil and pine nuts in your food processer. Pulse a few times.

IMAG0258

Add your garlic cloves and pulse a few more times.

IMAG0259

Slowly add your olive oil at a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrap sides down.

IMAG0260

Add parmesan and pulse a few more times. Add salt pepper to taste.

IMAG0262

See! Simple and easy. The possibilities are endless.

IMAG0263

Here are a few ideas to use your pesto. Tilapia and pasta, Shrimp and pesto pizza, chicken pesto. Tonight I made chicken pesto!

IMAG0273.jpgj

IMAG0276.jpgg

Another fun thing about pesto is that it freezes well. I divided it up and placed it into 2 separate containers and put in the freezer for quick and easy meals.

IMAG0272.jpgk

Basil Pesto

2 Cups of fresh Basil

1/2 Cup of freshly grated parmesan

1/2 Cup Olive oil

1/3 Cup pine nuts

3 Medium garlic cloves

salt and freshly ground pepper.

Start by putting your basil and pine nuts in your food processer. Pulse a few times.  Add your garlic cloves and pulse a few more times. Slowly add your olive oil at a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrap sides down. Add parmesan and pulse a few more times. Add salt pepper to taste.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1–Have a Headache Already

Happy New Year to everyone! Day 1 of the detox started today. It’s been pretty tough,I’m not gonna lie. I went to Whole Foods and Walmart yesterday to get all the fruits and vegetables I needed for the week. I’ve had a headache all day due to the lack of caffeine. I really don’t drink but maybe a cup and a half of coffee and a glass of tea a day. But I sure did miss it today. This morning I got up to help in the nursery at church. I made the Antioxidant smoothie. You can find the recipe here . It was really good, a little tart but not bad. When I got to the church I got a cup of unsweetened green tea (no caffeine) so I could convince myself it was a cup of coffee. The tea and smoothie held me over till about 11:30. I made a nice little salad for lunch with water with of couple apples thrown in. My salad had spinach, avocado, cucumbers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and pumpkin seeds dressed with balsamic vinaigrette I did get pretty hungry this afternoon so I made the roasted chi

Vanilla Bean Almond Butter

I don’t know about you but I LOVE nut butters. I have never made my own because I didn’t realize out easy it was. I’m telling ya, everyone can make nut butter as long as you have a decent food processor and there's not turning back. I’ve had some left over vanilla beans from the vanilla I made a while back and wanted to use them, so I decided to use them in the almond butter. I made this about a week ago and it’s already half gone! It’s like a yummy creamy dessert. Once you try fresh pure nut butters you will never go back to store bought. Only 3 ingredients and no added oils! So here it goes: Start out by toasting your almonds until they start to smell yummy. Pour your almonds in the food processer and start to process. You will need to process for 8 to 10 minutes and stop several times to scrape down the sides, so be patient. Stage 1 Stage 2- Powder Stage 3-The natural oil starts to come out and its starts to ball up. Stage 4-Almost there, just a f

Year 2 of Detox

Well it’s that time of year again. Last year I decided to do a month long detox starting January 1st. I felt great afterwards and after how I’ve been eating recently I’ve decided to make it a tradition to do it every year. I feel it just puts me on the right track to start out the year. I know when some of you hear the word “detox” you think water and pepper for 5 days straight (or something crazy like that). This is nothing like that. I actually follow a plan that I think is very healthy. Every year Whole Living puts out a new plan. It has changed a little since last year. I think it’s a little easier to follow this year. They provide all the recipes and instructions you need to follow the plan. Check out week 1 of the plan here . Week 1 I will be eating fruits, vegetables, and plant-based fats, including nuts, seeds, and oils. Week 2 I will be adding back in seafood, beans and lentils, and organic soy. And week 3 I will be adding back in gluten-free grains and eggs. I will be chang