Pesto

While Basil pesto is the commonly known pesto, there are others to try. Anything green:
Spinach pesto, Mint,Cilantro pesto- my favorite! I use it in stuffed tomatoes.

And, it can be frozen!

Here is a recipe for Mint Pesto- great with lamb kebobs!

PESTO
1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup (packed) fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 medium garlic clove, peeled
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 cup (or more) extra-virgin olive oil
Blend all ingredients together.

Basil Pesto

With the abundance of basil everywhere, it beehoves me to not make some pesto and get it into the freezer!
How I make it:







Fill the fp up with basil. Add a handful or parsley without the stems. Shred 3 garlic cloves into your fp. Pulse it till chopped. Add 3/4 c shredded parmesan and chop again till well incorporated. Next, slowly add 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup olive oil in a steady stream.
When well incorporated, put into an ice cream tray for easier use or put into a freezer container. use the smaller portions as needed!

Bunches of Basil and how to save it!

I pulse the food processor with one hand and drizzle olive oil into the feed tube with the other hand, just pulsing until the basil is coarsely chopped. You should make sure that all the basil is coated with oil too, which keeps it from going dark in the freezer. I use about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil for each batch in the food processor when I'm making coarsely chopped basil like this to use for pasta sauce, soup, or stew during the winter. When I'm making basil puree ( as in a basil vinaigrette) I use more oil and chop the basil much more finely.
A while ago Helen from Beyond Salmon wrote an excellent post on preserving and using herbs in which she explained this quite well. Basically soft herbs are things like basil, cilantro, parsley, oregano, and mint which are either eaten raw or added only for a few minutes of cooking. Hard herbs are things like rosemary, thyme, savory, and sage which are suitable for long cooking times. The two things from this list that I've had great luck freezing are rosemary and thyme. I actually discovered how to do this somewhat by accident when I cut the branches off my rosemary and thyme bushes one fall and didn't have time to pick the leaves off. I washed the herbs, then put the stems into a ziploc bag and put it in the freezer, not sure what would happen.

Use a separate ziploc bag for the rosemary and thyme.
Let thyme and rosemary stay in the freezer for several weeks.

After a few weeks, take ziploc bag out of the freezer and use a rolling pin to roll over the bag containing the herbs. You should see a significant amount of leaves come loose from the stems. If some leaves don't come off, you can remove the loose leaves and freeze the others a bit longer, or pick the rest off by hand.

The frozen leaves fall off the stems, and they are nearly as good as fresh. Try this if you have rosemary and thyme in your garden and live where there's a cold winter, and I think you'll like the result.
After I've separated the leaves from the stems, I like to store my
frozen herbs in canning jars which have a lid that seals well.
This keeps moisture away from the herbs.
(The jars go back in the freezer.)

That's how easy it is to preserve the rosemary and thyme from your garden to use in wonderful soups and stews all winter long. Use the frozen leaves in any recipe calling for fresh rosemary or thyme. For recipes created using dried thyme or rosemary, use about twice as much of the frozen herbs as you would the dried version.


Or, you can just go to Trader Joe's and look for this, which is cilantro- BUT they also have basil!

I kinda want to be Irish for a Day

If you don't care for all that typical Irish fare, try the following:
Shepherd's Pie
Romaine lettuce with Basil Green Goddess Dressing
Shepherd's Pie~
1 # ground beef
1 c chopped white onion
3 strips bacon, cut into small pieces
1 c beef broth
1 bottle of beer
1 pkg. frozen peas
2-3 chopped carrots
1 T flour
1 - 2 T tomato paste
Ready made mashed potatoes
1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
Brown bacon strips in skillet. Remove and add onions and saute. You can add a little sugar to help the onions caramelize faster. When they are nicely browned add the ground beef and cook through. Then add carrots and frozen peas. Stir and mix for about 5 minutes. Add the flour and tomato paste and stir to incorporate the paste.
Turn up the heat and add the beer which helps to deglaze the pan. Add a little fresh chopped parsley along with salt and pepper and the cooked bacon. Stir to mix all together and get a nice consistency to the beef mixture. Have your pie plate ready because you are ready to add this mixture to the pie plate. With your ready made potatoes ( if you can buy the kind that has roasted garlic in them ~ great otherwise you can add it yourself) spread the potatoes over your filling. Bake in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and add shredded cheddar over top. Return to oven till cheese melts. Yum!!!
Basil Green Goddess Dressing:
1 c fresh parsley
3/4 c plain yogurt
1/3 light mayonnaise
2 T chopped basil
2 T chopped dill
1T chopped mint
1 tsp. red vinegar
Blend it all in a food processor. Can be made 3 days ahead. I have also found that you can use a combo of yogurt and sour cream instead of using the mayonnaise.