Be Free For Me Blog

This time of year, I am always scrambling to salvage anything and everything I can out of my garden before the bitter frosts come nipping at the late season vegetables. A frost so daring and bold that even flings with an Indian Summer, the strongest picket fence lined with heavy duty chicken wire, and my clinging thoughts of summer, can’t keep it at bay. 

Moving quickly through my overgrown vegetable plot with my garden shears in hand, I begin to feel like a bargain shopper during the last 10 minutes of a farmers market. Working my way through each and every row, I clip & stock pile everything and anything I can.

One of the largest crops at every summer end is the herbs. What once started out as tiny sprigs of green, are now fragrant bushes screaming out, “Use Me!”

What I have found to be the most magical use of an abundance of herbs, which also allows me to enjoy them year round, is pesto. Although “basic” pesto usually consists of basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic and pine nuts, it is easy to change the ingredients slightly to adapt to different food allergens. Shaking up the recipe can also add even more flavor and zip to the sometime bland gluten and allergen free menus.

Some of my most favorite uses of pesto include tossing it with fresh tomatoes and hot pasta; adding a bit more olive oil, along with fresh cracked pepper and drizzling it over salad greens for a quick and easy salad dressing; and smothered over fresh fish and vegetables before grilling or broiling.

For more pesto pointers and recipe ideas see the article “Pesto Pointers for the Gluten and Allergen Free” on BeFreeForMe.com.

My Friday favorite blog feature is all about sharing. But this week I’m really sharin’ the love.

Sauces n’ Love Pesto is amazing. I stumbled upon this little gem at my local BJ’s Warehouse Club store while shopping for staples and basics. Since that day this pesto has been on my standing-order of BJ’s stock-up supplies.

I hate to sound smug but the reason this pesto is one of my all-time favorites is because it is so darn close to my own handmade pesto. I make my pesto with garden fresh basil, which I painstakingly nurture, grow and water, combined with fresh garlic, pine nuts, fresh grated parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper. Not surprisingly, these are the exact same natural, organic, vegetarian, and gluten, sugar and preservative free ingredients used in the Sauces n’ Love pesto.

I love making my pesto in the summer when my basil plant is the size of a small shrub (if I remember to water it) and ready to be harvested. But when time is at an all time premium, I count on my staple tub of love – Sauces n’ Love pesto.

And if you want to make things really easy, buy yourself a small basil plant and put it on your patio. Get some Sauces n’ Love Pesto, act like you made it yourself, and toss it up with your favorite gluten-free pasta. No one will ever tell the difference… and there’s no watering required.