purple basil
This past week I received some purple basil in my weekly farm share. It tastes just like regular basil but the leaves are dark purple. It’s gorgeous! Inspired, I decided to expand my horizons and make some new recipes with basil.
Purple basil, pineapple and strawberry smoothie
I typically drink my morning smoothie a couple of hours after I have woken up. As a result, I usually favor something that it isn’t too sweet. I love the tanginess of the pineapple combined with the taste of basil.
Ingredients
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen pineapple (or a little more..)
3 to 4 fresh or frozen strawberries (or a little more..)
6 to 8 fl oz of coconut milk (I usually use a combo of almond/coconut milk)
3 to 4 basil leaves
3-5 ice cubes
Creating the Magic
Place everything in a blender and blend until smoothie. If your fruit is frozen, the smoothie will be thicker. Adjust the amount of fruit, liquid and basil to your taste.
Basil, Pineapple and Banana Smoothie
Ingredients
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen pineapple (or a little more..)
1 fresh or frozen banana
6 to 8 fl oz of coconut milk (I usually use a combo of almond/coconut milk)
3 to 4 basil leaves
3-5 ice cubes
Creating the Magic
Place everything in a blender and blend until smoothie. If your fruit is frozen, the smoothie will be thicker. Adjust the amount of fruit, liquid and basil to your taste. This smoothie is slightly green as I used green basil. If you used purple basil, then the smoothie will turn a slightly different color.
Fresh Herb Crackers
These crackers are amazing! I simply chopped up a bunch of different fresh herbs and added them to a basic cracker recipe. I used whatever herbs I had on hand - basil, oregano and sage. But feel free to experiment.
Ingredients
125g of flour
2.5g of salt
25g of olive oil
50g water
fresh herbs - 1 to 2 tablespoons of each herb finely chopped (basil, sage, oregano, thyme)
Creating the Magic!
1. Pre-heat the oven to 335 °F. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Place the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the oil and water and herbs. My ‘herb’ measurements are not exact so I would add a little of each herb to begin with and mix into the dough. You want the dough to be pretty well covered in herbs! The more herbs, the tastier the crackers. Mix until you have dough. Knead for about 2 minutes.
3. Place the dough on a floured surface. Roll out the dough until it is very thin (about as thin as you can go without breaking it).
4. Cut into small squares or rectangles. Gently place each square on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little salt. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes – or until the crackers are slightly brown and snap when you break them. Store in an airtight container.