EASY *Almond* Pesto

Never again will I buy pre-package pesto!! I was actually looking for the pesto at Trader Joe's...but they were out.

Sad day.

So I picked up a pack of fresh basil instead and decided I'd give it a shot myself...but using almonds that I knew I already had at home (pine nuts are too much $$!).

I've tried before, but sorta burnt the almonds when the recipe said to lightly 'toast' them... so the pesto was a brown-green, smelt weird, and not appetizing in the least.

So this time, I found a simple Almond Pesto recipe that didn't call for toasting...and this is all I needed:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh basil roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 garlic clove (I used pre-minced...about 2 cloves)
• ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons canola oil (the recipe linked above said that using just olive oil can be a bit overpowering in flavor)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Measure, roughly chop, juice...

Put everything BUT the oils in the food processor...

Blend up until you have a combined, smooth consistency...

Then slowly pour in oils (I just measured each & combined into a measuring cup to make it easy to pour in while the food processor was running)...

Your kitchen will smell heavenly... fresh basil...NOM! Then scoop it all out into a Tupperware container (or freeze in cube trays). I found that the next day the oil had absorbed quite a bit, so I added in a tad more olive oil - FYI.

ENJOY!! I used up all of my batch on THIS awesome, healthy recipe!! DO IT!