You know that feeling you get right before you’re about to pack up your stuff, start a new job, and move in with new people? That’s called anxiety, and I’m afflicted. It’s exacerbated by all the coffee that I refuse to stop drinking, and it means that I often feel like that about the weirdest things. Like pesto.
Pesto just seemed so complicated. It requires very specific ingredients and equipment with sharp blades (don’t try to act like you’re 100% comfortable around a food processor!). But you can’t actually mess it up!
If you have basil, garlic, something crunchy (walnuts, perhaps), and olive oil, you are in business. I don’t follow a recipe anymore, I just throw ingredients into a food processor. It’s slightly magical. I’ve also experienced 2 pesto gamechangers:
1) The cilantro-laden pesto from Veganomicon. Try adding just a tablespoon or so of cilantro, it’s amazing! I always have a crazy surplus of cilantro when I buy it for a specific purpose, so I usually have a fraction of a bunch in my freezer. I am actively trying to clear out my freezer before the move so when I made this pesto yesterday I just tossed in the rest of what I had. Easy and delicious.
2) The edamame pesto from Appetite for Reduction. I’m a huge fan of cramming as much protein as possible into anything I cook, clown car style, so edamame automatically ends up in my pesto now if I have it.
So go make pesto!
All Around The Larder 