Green Options

July ushers in the epitome of summer garden abundance here in Wisconsin. So I was disappointed to see my local supermarket in town selling a teeny “fresh” box of basil from California, a quarter of an ounce for $2.49. With these high ingredient prices, it’s no wonder making your own pesto hasn’t evolved to higher home culinary status.

But ignore that price tag. With a little planning, you can make the amazing homemade, local pesto that will keep you savoring summer all winter long. Here are a few frugal tips to get you started:

1. Grow Your Own Basil

There’s a reason why fresh basil comes with such a high price tag: the herb is incredibly hard to keep fresh. From the moment it is cut, the leaves start to wilt, making transport very difficult. One of the most economical ways to get your feet wet in gardening is to grow basil (or any fresh herb you use frequently), which can readily be grown in a container or pot.

Ever since reading the novel Dandelion Wine in grade school, I’ve been rather curious about the culinary history of this common garden plant. Many consider it a weed, others think it has magical seeds that grant wishes when blown, however, what few realize is that it has been a medicinal healing plant for centuries.

Some like dandelion root as a tea, and it’s also sometimes made into a tincture or supplement. Dandelion is also known to be very rich in vitamins C and K and beta-carotene, and additionally a good source of calcium and iron. Traditionally it is known as a liver tonic, so drinking a tea that has dandelion flowers blended with it makes sense for those looking to take better care of the liver. Many folks make pancakes with the flowers, and interesting salads and all sorts of wild recipes with the leaves.

Today we’ve eaten the last of our sorrel until spring.

Where I grew up we had traveller families who passed through our village several times a year, and when they did, their children would join us in school for a few weeks. As they walked home, the traveller kids regularly foraged for food: hazelnuts in early autumn, mushrooms from early spring to late summer and sorrel from late spring. Many of us learned a little about free wild food from their visits, and while I’d never go mushrooming on my own, because I’m not confident enough about my identification of various fungi, I still forage for a wide range of foods: especially sloes, hazelnuts and elderberries.

It’s still August, and thus, still tomato season. Around our house, we are eating about 15 lbs. per week. It’s a lot of tomatoes. Yet, tomatoes are so versatile, so easy to cook in so many ways. Come December, they will be the first on the list of fresh produce that I miss most.

If you have been headed out to the farmers market each week and are getting used to “la vida local,” you should consider signing up for this October’s Eat Local Challenge. Here’s some details on the challenge and how you can participate.

And, here’s this week’s recipes and posts for Farmers Market Fare.

I love basil, and I even worked on a basil farm in college.  One of my favorite basil recipes is pesto, and my children love it too!  We make it from organic pesto we grow in our garden, and we eat it on baguettes, crackers, pasta, pizza, etc. It is really easy to make if you have a blender, but be careful to stop and stir often.  You can easily burn up the motor on your blender if you are not patient.

Organic Pesto

Pulverize in a blender:

• 1/4 cup pine nuts

I was over at my lovely mother-in-law’s house yesterday, and I noticed how well her window box full of herbs (a gift from my husband and me) was doing. The basil was out of control–in a good way. I asked her what she was going to do with the basil, and she said she didn’t know.

“You should make pesto,” I said to her. “It’s really easy.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

Today, I tried out a local sandwich shop I’d never tried. Their veggie sandwich promised tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and pesto, one of my favorite combinations. Unfortunately, their idea of “pesto” was mayonnaise with dried basil flecks in it. What? The blasphemy! Are there really that many people who don’t know the awesomeness of pesto?

I know. It doesn’t sound particularly appetizing, but trust me. This is delicious. We keep basil in the garden and pesto in the fridge during most of the summer season. By now (early Spring), we are ready, but the Basil is not.

When my friend, business partner, and the managing editor of our magazine, Relevant Times shared this recipe with me, I was skeptical too. I’ve learned to trust Green Diva Jen’s (AKA Jenifer O’Neill) recipes. She is not only a WiseWoman herbalist, she is an amazing natural foods and Macrobiotic chef.

Ingredients
2 cups raw kale
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup olive oil
1 cup Romano cheese, grated
4 cloves garlic peeled & chopped
salt & freshly group pepper to taste

Directions

The name pesto derives from tradition of making this sauce in a mortar with a pestle. The following recipe, which I encourage you to use a food processor for, unless you have a few spare hours, proves that you absolutely don’t need cheese to make a fantastic pesto. Purchase fresh basil (or grow it yourself!), and find a nice fruity olive oil.

Advance Preparation: Pesto freezes very well. Defrost pesto at room temperature, about

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