If you’re anything like me, I tend to overbuy fresh herbs and always have leftovers after making the only recipe I intended to make. Then I’m stuck with figuring out what to do with the extras. This time, I was left with some mint from a delicious, fresh strawberry-mint frozen yogurt, so I decided, why not try a pesto?

Full disclosure: This was my first time ever making pesto. I’ve never been a huge fan, but I remembered trying a lemony pesto at a restaurant once that piqued my taste buds, so I thought I’d attempt something of the like, but with a mint twist.

I had some fresh garlic and while most people find garlic stinky, I’d much rather have the apartment waft of nutty roasted garlic than overpower it with too many Glade plug-ins, so I popped that in the oven.

I attempted to get enough fresh basil from my patio plant. However, I’m not much of a green thumb and my plant has been barely holding on, so I was well short of what I would need to balance out the mint I had leftover. I begrudgingly picked some up at the produce market on the corner (being careful to get just enough for the recipe this time!).

I used a small food processor for this recipe (my bigger one was in the dirty dishes pile that I didn’t want to tackle quite yet). Due to the space constraints, I found it easiest to add the chopped herbs about an eighth at a time to prevent overflow and ensure consistency. I also like garlic (if it wasn’t obvious yet), so I threw in an extra couple cloves (four in total); feel free to dial it down if you’re not so much of a garlic fan. Finally, I used a pre-lemon-infused oil for the recipe, but you can easily make this product yourself by adding some fresh lemon juice to taste.

This pesto is versatile. While I used it for warm pasta as a side, it would also go well with a cold pasta salad with red bell pepper and sweet onion, steamed vegetables or seafood. Feel free to get creative! (And make sure you leave a comment if you make something especially delicious!)

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Ingredients

• 2 cups basil leaves
• 3/4 cup mint leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• Bulb of garlic
• 1/2 cup lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut top off bulb of garlic to expose each clove (about a quarter of the top of each clove should be removed); peel off loose outside layers. Sprinkle the top with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil. Roast in oven for 30–35 minutes. Set aside to cool until easy to handle by hand.

Coarsely chop basil and mint leaves.

Combine basil, mint and chopped walnuts in food processor and process until fine.

Add 4 cloves of roasted garlic to food processor (just pinch the uncut end to squeeze the garlic out from the skin) and process until combined.

Slowly add lemon-infused olive oil (or olive oil plus lemon juice) to food processor; continue to blend until well mixed.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir pesto into cooked pasta, toss with vegetables or shrimp, or brush over salmon or chicken.

Yield: About 1 cup

Originally published June 3, 2014 on Foods4BetterHealth.com.