Lori ~ If there is one thing I know, it's veggies. If there is another thing I know, it's eating those veggies. And yet another thing I know is how not to follow a recipe. What do all those things have in common? Delicious, "out of the box" recipes...

One of my favorite dips to make is pesto. It's one of those dishes that partners well with everything, from savory dinners to sweet desserts (yes, desserts!). You can interchange the ingredients a million times over to make the pesto whatever your little heart desires.

Since the warm summer weather ran pretty late for most of us, especially on the West Coast, I've still got an abundance of basil growing. So, since I neither follow recipes, as I mentioned earlier, nor like to use the same ingredient twice (ok, that's a lie but for the purpose of this post, just go with it), I give you some incredible, intense, and fabulous pesto recipes to play with ...

Raw Mint Pistachio Pesto 

• 1 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup pistachios
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2/3 cup olive oil (more or less as needed)
• freshly cracked pepper

Place the mint, basil, and pistachios in a food processor or blender (blender works great), and process a few times to lightly combine. Add lemon juice, honey, and salt and pulse again until creamy or chunky, or at desired consistency. This will be thick. Slowly add olive oil and keep processing until all is combined. Place pesto into a bowl and add cracked pepper, stir, and serve with veggies.

OR ...

Basil-Sage Pesto 

• 1-1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 5 (about 2 tbsp) fresh sage leaves
• 1/2 cup hemp seeds
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/2 – 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2/3 cup olive oil (more or less as needed)
• splash of cold water
• freshly cracked pepper

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender until desired smoothness. Taste, test, and serve ...

over baked kabocha ... 

OR ...

Sweet Mint Dessert Pesto

• 1/2 cup raw Brazil nuts (or nut of choice)
• 2 cup packed fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• dash of salt

In a food processor, process the nuts into smaller pieces, leaving a little chunky. Add the remaining ingredients and process until combined to your ideal texture (I left mine slightly chunky).

This one is great with pretty much anything... graham crackers, cookie toppers, or chocolate ... Chocolate in the form of Mint Pesto-Laced Chocolate Brownies!