Thursday, April 10, 2008

What to do with too much basil

For Christmas, my husband's brother and his brother's girlfriend gave us an "Aerogarden", which grows plants indoors using dripping water, lights, and packets of "nutrients". Right now we have parsley, mint, purple and green basil, thyme, and dill growing like crazy. Here are some things I've done with the mountains of basil we have:

1) Hand-cut pesto: chop a bunch of basil, a handful of pinenuts, and two garlic cloves together finely on a chopping block. Add to pasta with a generous dash of salt and oil if desired.

2) Basil, eggplant hummus, and cheese sandwich: Take a piece of Milton's whole wheat bread (or another sliced bread around 100 calories) and cut in half. Spread 2 tablespoons of eggplant hummus (from Trader Joe's) onto the bread and throw on 4 basil leaves cut in thin slivers. Also place one piece of reduced fat cheddar (cut in half first, then stack the halves) in the sandwich. Now cut the sandwich in two small halves for a delicious, approx. 220 calorie sandwich.

3) This eggplant "pasta" from Alton Brown is pretty good, and if you cut the oil down to one tbsp and use 1/4 cup half and half instead of 1/2 cup cream, it's not too bad for you: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_17752,00.html

4) I just opened my fridge and found two containers of tofu set to expire this month. One basil dish I am planning is an eggplant, basil, and tofu stirfry--one of my favorite Thai dishes.