Brought to you, by the letter B

I have started growing basil. It seemed easy enough, I picked up four small plants at the grocery store, and sent the husband out for a pot and potting soil, with a few tips from Grandma, I was in business!

So far I have pruned 4cups of leaves, made about 2 cups of pesto, and enjoyed every drop of it!

I was inspired by my Food Network Magazine, which came with an insert with 50 recipes to use Pesto. I will admit, the two I have tried so far did not come directly from this insert, but my base pesto recipe did.

So far my pesto adventures have included a chicken pizza with goat cheese, and roasted red peppers. I used the pesto as a sauce on the crust, and also marinating the chicken.

This weekend I also made a delightful pesto alfredo sauce, also with chicken, and of course what is alfredo without pasta.

As this is my first attempt at growing something I am very pleased with my results. I should have enough leaves for another batch of pesto. I am a big fan of the Panera vegie soup with pesto, and I think I can come up with my own fantastic version...