Seven Ways to Use Basil Without Pesto

There seems to be no way to buy or grow a small or even medium amount of basil. Usually sold in huge plastic tubs, a healthy plant can produce more than you might think. You can achieve quite a lot with pesto and caprese salads, but not everyone likes repetitive action. If you’re already fed up with the most common uses for basil, try expanding your repertoire with one of them.

Mix with mayonnaise

This is especially helpful if your basil is starting to look a little tired. Even the saddest and most pitiful-looking herbs taste good when mixed with mayonnaise and spread on a sandwich. As I mentioned earlier , it is universal and does not require participation:

Aim for a ratio of one cup of mayonnaise to every cup of coarsely chopped greens and onions. Wash the plant parts by rinsing them in a bowl of water, pat them dry with paper towels, and blend into the mayonnaise with a food processor, immersion blender, or “regular” blender until you have a green, super herbal, fresh product. but still a very creamy sauce. It is very good on its own – spread it on a sandwich! – but you can also dilute it with a little red wine vinegar to make a salad dressing (add a pinch of sugar as well), or mix it with sour cream to make a more substantial shaving dip. It’s also suitable for all kinds of potatoes: delicious drizzled over fried potatoes or mashed, it makes an excellent dipping sauce for french fries.

shake the cocktail

In addition to the fact that this cocktail is beautiful and tasty, it is also useful, and even healthy. Instead of using one or two leaves as a garnish, this recipe calls for 10 leaves per smoothie, plus more for garnish. Apart from the basil, all you need is gin and lemonade:

Add 10 fresh basil leaves to a shaker and sip. Add 2 oz gin, 1 1/2 oz lemonade and ice and shake until well cooled. Strain through a fine sieve over a large stone and garnish with a couple of basil leaves.

Prepare a simple herbal oil

It’s not that I’m tired of pesto; I got tired of cooking it and buying other ingredients besides basil to make it. This herbal oil is made on the basis of Julia Turshen’s green sauce , only there are no measurements, no proportions, no rules:

Add a handful of herbs to a food processor or blender, along with a clove of garlic if you like, and blend until they are finely chopped. Add a pinch of salt and then, with the engine running and the blades whirring, drizzle with olive oil until you get the desired consistency, whether spreadable or runny. Taste the oil and season more if necessary.

Add eggs for a vibrant summer breakfast.

Add to any salad

Caprese isn’t the only salad that basil is good for. Green salads (leafy) are usually prepared with a few soft leaves; Basil is also a leaf, but a leaf with much more flavor than romaine. Topping a bowl of standard leaves with a handful of more interesting leaves will give you a better tasting salad without the need for extra dressing. To prepare, you need to do quite a bit:

When preparing, I prefer to leave small leaves whole, and larger ones – chiffon . Toss them with the salad to ensure even distribution; you need grass in every piece. Then, and only then, should you add the salty chunks, cheese crumbles, and dressing. I think you’ll find that you need less of each, although “need” is a funny word, especially when it comes to cheese.

Make a simple syrup

Cocktail syrups are worth making even if you don’t drink cocktails . You can use them to flavor soft drinks, drizzle over cake, or add them to sauces. Simple basil syrup works in all these cases. (If you don’t believe me, add some to your next marinara, but don’t tell the Italians.)

To prepare it, add 1 cup of basil leaves, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water to a saucepan or saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves, then cover, remove from heat and let syrup sit for 30 minutes. Strain and chill. Basil syrup will keep in the refrigerator for one month.

Make ice cream

This ice cream recipe from Kathy Quinn combines vibrant basil with salty cream cheese and a dash of sweet cream to create a complex and refreshing frozen treat. Find out how to do it on YouTube .

Freshen up your car

I don’t know what your car smells like, but mine isn’t exactly fresh. Instead of hanging an overly strong cardboard tree on your rearview mirror, you can drown out unwanted scents with fresh basil leaves :

…refresh your car by placing a few fresh basil leaves on a piece of newspaper and leaving it to dry in the back seat of your car. The windows turn it into a real greenhouse, so when the basil dries, a delicious smell will spread throughout your car.

Depending on how many vehicles you have (and how smelly the passengers are), you can survive a lot of basil this way.