Pesto for People Who Protest Piquancy

On busy days like today, I am so thankful for our bountiful garden and how easy it makes dinner prep.   There is not much better and simpler than cut up garden veggies, pita bread, and homemade roasted garlic hummus for supper.

The only problem with this meal is that it required the food processor.  Which meant that it needed to be cleaned - again!  We had already used it earlier today to make three batches of pesto for the freezer.

Liam helped me with the basil harvest and then both boys made their own signature pesto blend. 

Liam chose to make Cashew Pesto.

Seamus opted for Walnut Pesto.

And I experimented with Pecan Pesto.

We ended up with a dozen meal sized servings of pesto which we froze in ziplock baggies for quick dinners later in the year. 

Ian and I love pesto on pasta and pizza.  The boys will eat pesto (they eat pretty much everything!) but they often complain about it having "too much flavour".  So, this time I experimented by using half basil leaves and half chard greens.  This reduced the flavour factor for the boys while still remaining healthy and delicious...AND it used up of some of our Swiss chard which is growing like gangbusters!

Recipe: Gael Glen Farm's Homemade Pesto

2 cups basil leaves
2 cups chard leaves
5 cloves of roasted garlic
4 tbs lemon juice
2/3 cup of nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, pecans or cashews)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Blend it all up in the food processor and portion it out into four ziplock baggies.  Label and freeze.

In addition to beginning food preservation for winter, we also processed and plucked four more ducks tonight and then transplanted our last set of seedlings into larger pots. 

It is late; I am tired and looking forward to bedtime.  I sure hope the boys sleep in tomorrow!