What’s on Your Plate? Blog Challenge

My talented blog friend, Donna of Retirement Reflections, has teamed up with Deb of Widow Badass to invite all of us to a monthly virtual dinner party. The goal is to spread meal inspirations and share dishes that we have recently enjoyed. Breakfast, lunch, appetizers, dinner, dining in, dining out… all ideas are welcome!

Pesto is an essential staple in my home. I love it on grill chicken, salmon, and roasted veggies. Some jarred brands do the job when time is a commodity. However, the jarred pesto may contain ingredients a guest cannot eat or do not the complement the dish I am cooking. Home made pesto from homegrown herbs satisfies every palate and dish. I make batches of pesto in the summer to last me through the year.

Modern me uses a food processor. I pack a hefty harvest of basil leaves into the bucket and press a button to yield a batch of fresh pesto in no time. I grow my basil in a little herb garden on the side of the patio. They happily co-habitat with the other herbs-parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, tarragon, sage, mint, and chives.

Here is how it is done: Cut the basil, remove and wash leaves. I sometimes add leaves of fresh parsley and oregano. Spin dry them in a salad spinner and sop up excess water with a paper towel. Loosely pack the food processor bucket with the leaves. Add olive oil, garlic cloves, and a dash of salt. Press the button. Add more oil if it too thick, more leaves if too loose. Taste test the pesto and add salt, oil, and more leaves according to your preferences.

I freeze the pesto in ice cube trays. Each cell is about one table spoon. Cover the ice tray with a sheet of plastic wrap and top with foil. When the pesto cubes are frozen, you can pop them out of the tray and store in a freezer container or just leave them in the tray.

The plain pesto cubes are easy to dress up. Let them defrost in a small bowl then add pignoli nuts, cheese, hot pepper flakes-whatever you want. Throw them in sauces as a substitute for dried basil. You will have a little scent of summer in your dishes.

Please click over to Deb’s (The Widow Badass) and Donna’s (Retirement Reflections) blogs for their new What’s on Your Plate? Blog Challenge monthly dinner (or breakfast, lunch, or midnight snack) party. Check out the meal inspirations found there and share one of your own.

Enjoy‌ ‌❤️.‌ ‌Like‌ ‌‌👍‌.‌ ‌Share‌ ‌😊.‌ ‌  

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