Spice Rack Challenge July: Basil

Coconut Scallops with Crispy Shallot, Basil and Sesame Sprinkle

This month's challenge is timely since I just harvested the first overload of basil from the garden.  This year we planted Genovese, Lemon, and Lime basil.  So in addition to the recipe for the challenge I put up more than enough pesto to get us and a couple of other households through the winter.  And that was just from the first harvest!  The tomatoes haven't started coming in yet but they will shortly and it's nice to know I'll have enough basil to be indulgent with it!

The recipe I adapted for the challenge came from an advertisement in the July 2005 edition of Food & Wine that I came across while sitting in a waiting room.  I really hate it when waiting room magazines get defaced by people ripping out pages.  The page that's missing always contains the continuation of the article I'm reading.  So I saved other possible readers that frustration and just swiped the whole magazine.  C'mon, it was 6 years outdated anyway.

Foraging Floyd: Dandelion Greens and Sunchokes

The herbs aren't the only green things unfurling in the perennial beds.  The weeds are sprouting too.  I was attempting to get a jump on them the other day and realized part of what I was tossing was good greens.  Dandelions!  The lettuce tub has been knocked off the indoor shelf by other seedling tubs and the lettuce in the garden isn't big enough to cut yet so we're in between for greens.  I started throwing the dandelion rosettes in a pile to be cleaned for supper.

You want to gather dandelion greens before they flower and become tough and too bitter to eat.  Young dandelion greens are bitter anyway but in my opinion not nearly as bitter as say, arugula.  If you like arugula and other domestic bitter greens you'll like dandelion.