So you guys may know that when it comes to plants, I kill them. Not on purpose. But I just cannot keep them alive (I also once accidentally killed a pair of canaries, but that’s another story. Birds and plants are not my thing.)
But I love to grow herbs because I use them so frequently that it’s so much cheaper and more convenient to have a pot of them on my back patio than to buy those tiny little packets. Last summer, I planted some big pots full of herbs. Then winter (an unusually long, cold, snowy winter by Louisiana standards) came and most of my herbs died. The rosemary and basil are kind of poking through, but the dill is long gone.
But the mint…you guys, I’ve found my plant. I cannot kill this.
This happened with literally zero work on my part. I probably couldn’t kill it if I wanted to. We’re a match made in heaven.
It’s funny because you’d think that being a food blogger, I’d make everything from scratch. The truth is that sometimes it’s easy to get into bad habits. The last few months, I kind of burned out on cooking and we have wound up eating out more than we really should have. So during the last couple of weeks, I’ve really been working hard at getting us back into the habit of rarely eating out.
One of the first things I made after my “resolution” was tortellini with mint-basil pesto from the May 2014 issue of Cooking Light (it’s not even available online or in stores yet, so hold tight and I’ll link it soon.) The whole dinner was so delicious–light and fresh and wholesome and feel-good and even my pickypickypicky eater (like the one who makes me not want to cook because things either end in tears or pouting) cleaned his bowl. But the pesto was the star of the show.
Sometimes traditional basil is a little heavy for me, and I’m not a huge fan of pine nuts, but the mint here isn’t super minty, it just brightens up that strong basil flavor. It’s delicious on pasta, pizza, garlic bread, spread on flank steak or pork tenderloin and grilled, anything with a little Mediterranean flair.
You’re going to need fresh mint leaves, fresh basil leaves, toasted almonds, garlic, a green onion, fresh lemon zest and juice, freshly grated Parmesan, and extra-virgin olive oil (I used Our Best Bites Garlic Olive Oil, which is still on sale if you haven’t snagged any yet!)
Chop the almonds
and grate the Parmesan.
Place the herbs, garlic, green onion, almonds, parmesan, lemon, and lemon juice in the small bowl of a food processor or in a small blender jar. Process until the herbs have broken down. With the blender/processor running, add the olive oil in a steady stream until desired consistency is reached.
This makes about a cup of pesto.
Mint-Basil Pesto
Recipe Adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh basil leaves
2-3 cloves garlic
1 green onion, trimmed
1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Zest of 1 large lemon
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
5-6 tablespoons olive oil (garlic or lemon olive oil is delicious)
Instructions:
Place the herbs, garlic, green onion, almonds, parmesan, lemon, and lemon juice in the small bowl of a food processor or in a small blender jar. Process until the herbs have broken down. With the blender/processor running, add the olive oil in a steady stream until desired consistency is reached.
Our Garlic Olive Oil is delicious in this (and the lemon would be, too!), so if you haven’t tried them out yet, now’s the perfect time because they’re on sale!
