Using Your Frozen Pesto

Now that we've had a couple of freezes and the basil crop is officially finished for the season -- except for what I have growing in the sunroom -- it is time to think about using that pesto to brighten up our cold months. Here's a really quick and easy meal idea featuring that precious pesto.

This year, I bought some Pesto Cubes, which are trays fitted with small, two-ounce containers that fit in the freezer.  They can hold any sort of herb in oil as well as small amounts of squash puree, but I love them for holding pesto.

Just take one of those two-ounce cubes, thaw, and use it to top-dress your fish before you bake it.  There's no need for any added butter or cooking spray, because the olive oil in the pesto takes care of that.  Here, you'll see I used salmon, and I served it with a mix of our recently-harvested potatoes.  I had both blue and gold potatoes, so I boiled them up in small chunks to enjoy their improbably color mix.

There you have it.  A dinner that is quick enough for a week night and special enough for the weekend!

The Analysis
Fast:  This entire dinner came together in about a half an hour, the majority of which was boiling and baking time.  That's plenty of time to set the table and pour some hard cider.

Cheap:  Obviously, the only thing I bought here was the salmon, so I could dedicate my food dollars to buying wild-caught salmon.  The whole dinner was probably $8, which was dinner for two and at least one lunch.

Good:  Basil is great for your digestion, and I've always considered pesto to be a partial serving of veggies when you are eating it in quantity like this.  It was certainly yummy.