Pesto Presto! Liven Up Your Frozen Vegetables
We all eat frozen veggies. Sometimes it’s because the vegetable we want is out of season and sometimes it’s to save time. (Hey, we Personal Chefs eat frozen veggies too!)
Steamed, baked, stir-fried, microwaved- no matter how we reheat them – we’re always looking for ways to make them seem not quite so, well, frozen. Especially when the vegetable is most often the last thought of "Oh, Yeah!" Some of us grab for the butter or liquid cheese-food stuff to liven up the dish.
Here’s a quick easy tip to perk up your side dish.
If you have the time to make your own pesto, by all means go for it. A handful of fresh basil, a couple of cloves of garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, a handful of nuts (pine, hazel, pistachio all work well) and a sprinkling of hard cheese like Romano or Parmesan (optional). Place the basil, garlic and nuts in the blender or food processor and give it a whirl to start the chopping process. Now, with the pouring lid open, drizzle in olive oil until it forms a paste. Keep adding oil until you are happy with the consistency. Now add in a pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper and some cheese. Taste it. Add more salt, pepper or cheese to fit your taste buds.
You can use your pesto right away, or you can grab an ice cube tray and freeze individual portions to use when you need it. Just pop them out when they are frozen and store in a freezer bag in the freezer.
Back to the veggies! Stir in some fresh or frozen pesto toward the end of the cooking cycle and you have a cool twist that is much healthier than using butter or margarine. Mangia!