EAT THIS! East Texas Caprese

A few things love Texas heat. Blueberries, bull nettle and basil, just to name a few.

Basil, much like other green loves of my life such as avocados, oxidizes quickly. In other words, for maximum tongue titillation, it needs to be eaten quickly after it's been harvested.

Here is a quick recipe I use on the regular during these summer months.

Combine the following ingredients in your Easiesttocleanup food processor:

3-4 handfuls of basil (I'm a very scientific chef.)

4 Tbs of XVOO

1 handful of walnuts or pine nuts if your feelin' really fancy

2 cloves of garlic

2 dashes of cayenne pepper

3 pinches of salt

Most pesto recipes call for Parmesan cheese. Quite frankly, I'm trying to cut back on my dairy consumption as there is a lot of current talk about dairy being challenging for the body to digest/ being good for our health. I really don't miss the flavor that much in my pesto. Please ignore this entire paragraph as I'm about to tell you to break out the mozzarella. Everything in moderation. ; )

This pesto is wonderful atop a fresh, organic tomato* as pictured above with a touch of mozzarella to bring a smooth, rich texture into the dish. I could literally eat this everyday...which I'm about to start doing because this basil it taking over the backyard!

Basily Bodacious,

V

*This perfect tomato was given to me by the kind folks at the Appleby Community Farm. It's organic, it's gorgeous and it tastes as good as it looks!