The flexitarian prescription

I love fresh basil. Wait. No. I am OBSESSED with fresh basil. On pasta, on pizza, on potatoes … in a cocktail with grapefruit juice, simple sugar and vodka … in soaps … AND I mean who doesn’t love pesto? The first time I ever had pesto it was tossed with a bunch of fettuccine and sun-dried tomatoes and I loved it so much, I literally had the exact same thing for lunch for a solid week. Yes, it was that good.

But, now that summer has drawn to a close how will I survive without fresh basil? Guuurrllll you don’t have to! Here’s what you do … Take all your remaining fresh basil plants and pluck the leaves from the stems. Wash them thoroughly and let dry. Then chop roughly, I like mine in pretty big hunks but you can make it as fine as you want. Put the chopped leaves into a silicone ice cube tray, fill half way with olive oil, half way with white wine. Once frozen you can keep wrapped individually in tinfoil. Then when you want to use, literally just place it in a pan and watch the super amazing goodness melt into you food or sauce. Super awesome to use in soups!

As for the pesto part … you can make some of that too : ) Make it the traditional way with Parmesan, or, try this vegan version with nutritional yeast. No, it has nothing to do with the kind used for baking but it adds a marvelous texture and complexity to dishes that traditionally call for cheese. So there you go. And here you go … a super delicious pesto recipe without dairy.

PESTO (DAIRY-FREE, VEGAN, RAW)

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

• 2 cups fresh basil, leaves only
• ½ cup pine nuts (although some people prefer walnuts)
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• ½ to ⅓ cup EVOO
• 3 TBS nutritional yeast
• Fresh lemon juice, about ½ medium-sized lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor. Pulse until they combine well, but don’t over process. You want the end product to be a little chunky. Add more olive oil if you need to, depending on what your needs are. If I’m using it for any kind of pasta dish, I typically add more pesto. For topping veggies, I use less. Enjoy!