Basil Harvest~Pesto

Harvest season coincides with holiday preparations in our land of temperate climate, thus I am decking the halls, readying for Christmas baking, and making pesto from my last big basil harvest all in the same week. Our few olive trees will be picked tomorrow, insha'allah.

For some unidentified reason, is has been several years since I, lover of basil, have taken the time to make pesto. It really doesn't take much time. It's been so long that I couldn't even find my recipe--the one I made back in the days when pine nuts didn't cost $20 a pound. So, I perused a few pesto recipes ala Pinterest and in the end made something that wasn't really like any that I had referred to for inspiration.

Basil Pesto

2 stuffed cups of basil 

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

2 medium cloves fresh garlic 

1/2 grated Parmesan or Grand Padano cheese

1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine basil, walnuts, garlic, cheese in the food processor and process until well blended. Add lemon juice, salt, and olive oil, continue processing, scraping down sides as needed.  This recipe is easily doubled--I made two double recipes today. The jar in the picture went into the refrigerator and the rest into the freezer and to a friend.

Note bene: depending how much of a garlic bite you like your pesto to have, you can alter the quantity of garlic. My garlic was pretty strong and with two medium cloves it has a distinct garlic bite. One recipe I with lesser quantities of similar ingredients called for 4-6 cloves of garlic. I can't imagine.

My Summer Salad

Last summer my friend, Brenda, informed me that every summer she makes a new salad recipe which she then designates as her Summer Salad. Nice idea. I am officially dubbing this Simply Delicious salad as my 2011 Summer Salad.

I knew I'd love this salad when I saw the ingredients as it has all the flavors I love: tomato, chickpea, mint, olive oil, and of course, basil. I've tweaked this recipe and come up with:

Tomato and Chickpea Salad

3 cups (or so) cherry or grape tomatoes. Depending on their size I cut them in half or leave them whole.
2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
a handful or two of fresh basil, chopped
some fresh mint, chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
coarse sea salt

Toss all tomatoes, chickpeas, basil, and mint together. Drizzle/dress with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with coarse sea salt according to taste.

Chicken in Basil-Coconut-Curry Sauce

It's time to begin harvesting some of the basil I planted when we arrived in Boise last month and though my seven plants aren't yet producing enough basil to make this favorite recipe , there was enough to make some basil-coconut-curry sauce tonight. Variations of this recipe can be found around the web but my recipe comes from a 1997 Better Homes and Garden magazine. It was a "Prize Tested Recipe" submitted by Neeraga Narayanan, who won $400 for her recipe. Note the 30 minute "marinade" time.

Chicken in Basil-Coconut-Curry Sauce

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 large red onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (or, to taste)
cooking oil (I use canola)
1 14 oz. can coconut milk
2 tsp. cornstarch
3 Tsp. snipped basil (I use about 1/3 cup)
1 Tsp. finely chopped ginger root

Rinse chicken; pat dry. cut into 1-inch (or bite size) pieces; place chicken in a medium bowl. In a small bowl stir together the salt, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, black pepper, chili powder, and turmeric. Sprinkle the chicken; toss to coat well. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a large skillet medium to large saucepan, cook onion, garlic and jalapeno in hot oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add chicken. Cook and stir until chicken is cooked through. Combine coconut milk and cornstarch. Carefully add to skillet. cook and stir till thick and bubbly. Add basil and ginger root. Cook 2 minutes more to heat through. Serve over rice and garnish with fresh basil if desired.

(I use at least 2 or 2 1/2 lbs of chicken for my family of six. I adjust all the ingredients accordingly except I only use 2 cans of coconut milk even I more than double the chicken--it is still plenty saucy.)

Got Basil?

We are enjoying a bumper crop this summer. And if you don't have basil, may I suggest that you plant some next summer? It is easily grown by seed and is one of the most care-free plants in my garden. Pretty, too, especially if you intersperse purple leaf with the standard green leaf plants. If you don't have any garden space, basil is happily grown in a pot.


Basil is the defining taste of our summer, which means that we are enjoying it in some way or another on an almost daily basis. We've discovered that just about any summer sandwich tastes better with fresh basil on it. My favorite, below, is a rice cracker spread first with yogurt cheese, then with an olive tapenade, topped with a slice of tomato and basil. The basil stays put better if you hide it under the tomato but I made it stand out front for the picture.

Quotidian Basil

Below is our favorite-new-recipe and one that I've promised to pass on to several friends:

Basil Balsamic Chicken and Pasta

*the chicken needs to marinate for 1-2 hours ahead of time*

Marinade Ingredients:

3-4 cloves garlic
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Process the garlic, basil, balsamic vinegar, and salt in the blender. Add olive oil and pulse a couple of times until just combined. Pour over 1 1/2-2 pounds of cut up chicken breasts chicken (about .8 Kilo). Marinate chicken for 1-2 hours, or longer, turning occasionally.

The Rest of the Ingredients:
1 lb (500 g) penne pasta
2 cups fresh basil leaves, chopped or chiffonade-ed , if you're really a gourmet cook
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
About 1/4- 1/3 cup pine nuts

Cook and drain pasta. Place in a large serving bowl and toss with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Next, cook the chicken + marinade, simmering on a low burner until the chicken is cooked through.

In a large serving bowl place the pasta, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, tomatoes, cooked chicken mixture, and pine nuts. Toss to combine.

Serves six

Just as my basil plants really started producing, my dear friend at A Circle of Quiet posted this recipe:

Basil Simple Syrup

3 cups granulated sugar
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups basil leaves, cut in half.
Put sugar and water in a small saucepan; heat over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and add basil leaves, giving a quick stir.
Cover and set aside to cool for one hour.
Pour through sieve, bottle* and store in the refrigerator.

With basil in abundance, I steeped 2 cups of basil instead of 1 1/2. We add a couple tablespoons of syrup (don't forget to stir) and a twist of lemon to a tall glass of ice water. My kids love this since our house is a soda and juice free zone.

Another of our favorite and plentiful summer flavors is canteloupe. Using the Basil Syrup recipe above I came up with:

Basil Cantaloupe Sorbet

Ingredients:
About 12 cups 1-inch pieces peeled, seeded, cantaloupe
1 cup basil syrup, chilled

Puree canteloupe in the food processor until smooth. As the canteloupe is processing, slowly add the basil syrup, processing until blended.

Freeze in an ice cream maker or simply pour into a covered dish (I prefer a larger, shallow dish), cover and freeze.

Some sorbet recipes recommend breaking up the frozen sorbet, processing it again, and freezing it a second time, but I find this sorbet smooth enough for our tastes after one freezing. Couldn't be easier. This is the most refreshing dessert we make in the summer time.

Bon Appetite!