Tasty Bites: Toasted Walnut Pesto

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Have you ever bought fresh basil at the grocery store, or even at a Farmer’s Market? If you have, you know how pricey it can be. Last spring I purchased 4 tiny basil plants for 59 cents at our local grocery store’s garden display. They were pathetic plants, but there’s something purposeful about resurrecting the near dead. (I also bought cilantro, which was brown and buried about a week later).

The result of my meager purchase was so much basil, I can’t even give enough away. I put it in salads and pasta sauce, but the more I trim it, the faster it grows. I was seeing pesto in my future. One trip to the grocery store to purchase pine nuts sent me into shock – they were almost $15 a pound! Undaunted, I turned to trusty Google and found recipes for pesto with walnuts, combined a couple of the recipes, and here’s what I came up with. (Yes, all measurements are estimated. You really can’t go wrong). I really loved the extra-nutty flavor the walnuts provided here, and may never go back to pine nuts. Use as many of the tops of the plants as you can; those leaves are more tender and sweet.

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