multi-herb ad hoc pesto

wow, the last few weeks have been intense. at the end of july i flew to austin, took the bar exam, and flew back to portland, only to immediately pack up our whole house, say some flurried goodbyes (including a really fantastic happy hour(s) at victory bar with a bunch of the portland people that i already miss the most), and drive the almost 2000 miles back to austin.

the drive back was long, but pretty awesome on the whole. utah was way more gorgeous than i expected it to be and the animals (FIVE, plus the two or us, in a toyota matrix piled high with our stuff!) were actually very well-behaved. i think in the end, though, it was the mix cds mike made and the endless quoting of arrested development that got us through the rougher stretches. 

we've been here for almost two weeks now and things are finally starting to feel more normal. we still don't have much furniture, but the internet works and the gas (finally we have a gas stove again!) is hooked up, so i'm happy. 

after the weeks of being without a functional kitchen, it's great to be able to just whip something up on a whim, like this ad hoc pesto. i got a giant bunch of basil at the farmers' market last week and it was starting to get a little frazzly, so i'd been thinking of pesto anyway, but this post on food52 was just the impetus i needed to actually put it together.  

some of the basil was getting pretty scroungy-looking, so i used what i could salvage and added cilantro and parsley to bulk up the green quotient (and add some extra complexity). i just put a few washed handfuls in the food processor with some garlic and a little olive oil and blended it up. 

once it was getting smooth, i added some parmesan cheese and some toasted almonds. i like pine nuts in pesto, too, but we more often have almonds around and also i've read those things about pine nuts making your mouth all weird (PINE MOUTH!!!) and no thank you. finally, i added some lemon zest and juice and a little water (maybe this is sacrilege?) to brighten and thin it out.

using multiple herbs in pesto makes it more interesting (although i love regular pesto as well) and ensures that you don't have to have giant bushels of basil every time you want to make it. some arugula (of course, an all-arugula pesto is also nice) or other herbs like tarragon or marjoram would probably be good additions, too, and you could also try adding things like celery leaves or carrot tops or really whatever kind of greens you have around. i'm not promising it'll be good, but it will be yours. live a little!

you can use this on pasta (or a cold pasta salad) or fish or in a sandwich or on pizza. you can thin it even more with extra lemon juice and some more water and call it salad dressing. it was fantastic on the simple romaine salad with little sweet tomatoes and shavings of ricotta salata above, for instance. using it in a composed salad of heirloom tomatoes and burrata or mozzarella wouldn't be totally crazy, either.

now that we're edging toward the end of a long and fairly rigorous summer, it's nice to be able to slow down a little and enjoy some of the season's great produce. it's also nice to be home.

*ingredients* (approximate - this is really flexible)

1 big handful cilantro (like a cup?)

1 big handful parsley (i used flat-leafed, but you can probably use whatever)

2 big handfuls basil 

1-3 medium cloves of garlic (depending on your tolerance/love for raw garlic)

1/4 cup or so olive oil

1/3 - 1/2 cup toasted almonds

1/3 - 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (~1 ounce or so? again, to taste)

zest and juice from 1/2 lemon (~ 1 - 2 tablespoons juice)

water, to thin to taste

salt, to taste

arugula & almond pesto

SO. Springy. our yard is full of pretty and good-smelling flowers and i am so ready for backyard cookouts and trips to the beach. i also just took my last law school final EVER and i'm getting an iphone finally, so things are really looking up for old me. this pesto is just the kind of quick and easy spring pick-me-up that i want right now.

arugula has something of a weird reputation, i think. if you look up "arugula" and "liberal" together, there will be a great many results. i'm not sure why arugula is supposed to be more liberal-food than, say, baby spinach (aside from the David Kamp book and the manufactured Obama-elitism thing), but there you go. personally, i prefer to call it "rocket" like the british do. it sounds much cooler. 

this something-like-pesto is extremely simple and could no doubt be dressed up in any number of ways. i like to keep it basic and then use it on lots of different things - sandwiches, frozen pizza, and cheese & crackers are just a few of the things that benefit from the addition of a peppery and pleasantly bitter arugula spread.

you can probably make this with a mortar and pestle, but i found the food processor to be awfully quick and convenient. just blitz together a few handfuls of toasted almonds with 2 - 4 smallish cloves of garlic. it's good to break the garlic up a little before adding it to the processor to make sure it all gets incorporated together.

once the almonds and garlic are ground together (in tiny crumbs, not necessarily a paste), start adding the arugula (ROCKET!). i used about 3/4 of a 7 ounce bag, but it isn't rocket science (or is it?). also add some olive oil. this moistens everything and makes it more sauce-y. you will need perhaps 1/3 of a cup or less - i like to drizzle it in a little at a time while the processor is running.

to cut the bitterness a little, i added some orange juice - perhaps 1/4 of a cup or so - whatever came out of half of a fairly juicy orange. the acid in the juice also helps to keep the pesto a bright vibrant green.

that's it, really. blend everything together until it's at a good texture. if you want to thin it out, add more oil and/or juice. also add some salt, to taste. you could use some parmesan or asiago or something to make it more like traditional pesto, but i like using it on cheesy things (aforementioned sandwiches/pizza), so i like to keep it plain. 

it's a particularly great sandwich topping when mixed with a little cream cheese or soft goat cheese and spread generously onto nutty, seedy toast and accompanied by gruyere/cheddar cheese and some peppery turkey. or, you know, whatever.

*ingredients*
it might be obvious, but this is really only good if you really like arugula. it's pretty bitter, so it probably isn't for everyone. 
2-4 small cloves garlic
1/2 - 2/3 cups toasted almonds
5 ounces or so fresh arugula
1/3 cup olive oil (or more, to taste/texture preferences)
1/4 cup orange juice (or about 1/2 an orange's worth)
salt, to taste

listening to: rocket man (shatner, ftw!), saint etienne