We have really enjoyed our home-cooked meals lately. However, I wasn't sure what we'd have for lunch today as we were almost out of everything. Before heading off to the gym today, I made a small batch of my Summer Salad. I thought I could "throw together" some kind of pasta dish once we got back, and the salad would go nicely with the pasta.While at the gym, I got lucky because I caught part of a cooking show on PBS while running. I believe the show is called Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen. Lidia made a pesto that sounded really good, and I recreated it (more or less) at home. It turned out great! I didn't measure any of the ingredients. But here is more or less what I did to make the pesto.
Tomato, Almond, Basil Pesto
- Salted almonds (about a hand-full)
- 5 basil leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic
- [Crush the above ingredients in a food processor]
- [Next I added the following to the food processor]
- 5 more basil leaves
- 4-6 medium sized tomatoes
- Olive oil (I ended up using very little olive oil - maybe a tablespoon)
- Salt (optional)
The pesto has a nice crunch to it and is soooo flavorful. Hubby, toddler & teenager all heartily approved. Quite an accomplishment!
Here is a picture of the pesto by itself. I think it would be a great topping for toasted bread as well...
And here is the pesto tossed with whole wheat spaghetti
A picture of the summer salad
Oh, and we also treated ourselves (hubby and I that is) to some delicious red wine.
It truly was a perfect summer lunch!
What's your favorite summer meal? Please share!
Be well,
Andrea
