I was walking down the street in Logan Square in October when I passed by this hedge. I did a double take and went back. It’s basil! I couldn’t believe it. I even picked a leaf off to smell… for sure. No confusing the smell of basil!
Entries Tagged as 'basil'
Fresh Basil Pesto
September 3rd, 2010 · No Comments
This summer we had an abundance of basil. I think it was a combination of a lot of rain and a lot of hot temperatures. Our basil just went nuts this year, rivaling the year of the waist-high basil. Since making pesto uses a lot of basil, we’ve made it a few times so far this summer. Once we tossed it with pasta and another time I slathered it on salmon and then baked it. I have even frozen some pesto in ice cube trays so we can have pesto this winter.
I like to use the basil pesto recipe from Simply Recipes. I’ve used walnuts in the pesto, since it’s been hard for me to find pine nuts lately, and when I do they’re expensive. I’ve been making the pesto in a blender, which is kind of difficult. I think I finally have a method down, but I’ll definitely be adding a food processor to our wedding registry.
Fresh Basil Pesto
From Simply Recipes
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.
Tags:basil·Chicago·cooking and baking·logan square·pesto·simply recipes
Polynesian Grilled Chicken Revisited With Waist-High Basil
August 12th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Back in 2004 I tried a Polynesian grilled chicken dish. I remember liking it but never made it again. I don’t know why. The other day I was thinking about it because I had fresh herbs, chicken, peppers and onions so I decided to make it again. Dallas made rice (he always makes the rice) and we ate them together. He loved it. Recipe here.
The salad I made with dinner is a pretty standard one for us. Lettuce, mandarin oranges, toasted almonds, edamame, watercress, green onion. I had some mushrooms that day so I threw them in too. For dressing, we either make our own using Dallas’ mom’s secret recipe or we also love Olde Cape Cod toasted sesame, soy, and ginger dressing (all natural and fat free!).
This is our out of control basil that I used in the recipe. It’s almost waist high!
Tags:basil·Chicago·cooking and baking·dallas·gardening·grill·olde cape cod·polynesian grilled chicken·roscoe village·salad
Lemon-Basil Chicken with Basil Aioli
July 29th, 2008 · 2 Comments
:: I made this meal about 9 months ago and posted on it but just realized today that I never published the post. Here it is. Better late than never. ::
This chicken was supposed to be served with noodles or rice, but we decided to make sandwiches of it.
Chicken:
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
Basil Aioli:
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
To prepare chicken, combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to basil mixture, turning to coat.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 8 minutes on each side or until done.
While chicken cooks, prepare aioli. Combine 1/4 cup basil and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Serve with chicken.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and 1 tablespoon aioli)
CALORIES 284(32% from fat); FAT 10.3g (sat 1.7g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 40.1g; CHOLESTEROL 106mg; CALCIUM 51mg; SODIUM 410mg; FIBER 1g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 6.1g
Alison Lewis , Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2005
Tags:aioli·basil·Chicago·chicken·cooking and baking·cooking light·lemon·roscoe village·sandwich
$36 Well Spent at the Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market
July 20th, 2008 · 4 Comments
Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market, Lincoln Square, Chicago
Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market, Lincoln Square, Chicago
Farmers’ Market Produce, Roscoe Village, Chicago
Back in Chicago means back at the Tuesday Lincoln Square farmers’ market. For $36 I brought home:
- 3 large portabello tops
- small portabellos
- raspberries
- blueberries
- cherries
- 2 sage plants
- green onions
- two types of zucchini
- yellow squash
- grape tomatoes (various colors)
- green pepper
- 5 ears of corn
- lettuce
- 1 free energy saver light bulb from the 47th Ward alderman Gene Schulter
Everything is so much better when you get it fresh from the regional farmers instead of shipped from who knows where at the supermarket. The berries were unbelievable. So flavorful. And the lettuce was so big and tasty. And the corn! So sweet and delicate.
I don’t think I wrote about this before, but I’ve spoken about it to a few people. I really like the guy in the mushroom stand. I’ve talked to him a lot about the different kinds of mushrooms he has. One day we talked about how portobello’s, the large ones, were actually a mistake. They were the little crimini mushrooms that were let go another 2 or 3 days and grew big, what we now know as portobellos. Then portobellos got to be so popular that they now refer to criminis as baby portobellos and sometimes charge more for them. This last time I was at the market the mushroom stand was crazy. Instead of the one guy there were 2-3 more people working the stand and giving out samples and stuff. They also sell a lot of canned mushroom dips, salsas and sauces that they give out free samples of. The mushrooms are grown in a greenhouse in Wisconsin.
I also went to Jewel later on to get a few more things so I could make this corn/avocado/tomato salad. We actually made this salad a lot when I was in Cape Cod and used the basil that Jessica’s uncle gave us. I don’t really have a specific recipe for the salad, but this is what’s in it. I just added enough of each til it looked good.
- 1 avocado
- 2 cobs of corn, cook & cut off the cob
- about a cup of tomato
- basil
- splash of olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- juice of one lemon
I’d gotten the corn and tomatoes at the farmers’ market and I grew the basil on my patio.
Tags:avocado·basil·blueberry·cape cod·cherry·cooking and baking·corn·farmers market·gene schulter·green onion·green pepper·jessica·jewel·julie·lemon·lettuce·light bulb·lincoln square·mushroom·portobello·raspberry·sage·squash·tomato·zucchini