Up to Our Elbows in Basil, Part 1

This summer's challenge for many in the Enright CSA has been finding creative ways to use the surfeit of basil we've gotten in our shares . . . as many people have said, there's just so much pesto you can eat. Which is kind of funny; pesto is sort of a "gourmet" item, and I remember seeing a one-man show about a guy talking about taking up shoplifting--he only stole high-priced items like--pesto. But reminds me of a story about my grandfather, who once went pheasant hunting and was particularly successful. After awhile, pheasant a la king can get old, too.

Anyway, I've come up with a few things that use basil, but one thing to remember is that EVERYTHING (almost) can use a little basil--pasta or pizza sauce, of course; caprese salad, with tomatoes and fresh mozarella and plenty of basil; roasted chicken or fish or vegetables with plenty of fresh basil; the list goes on. Someone mentioned some delicious lemon basil cookies they had. That's going on my list to try!

I made some Spicy Basil Yogurt Cucumber Dip for a party last week, then added some oil and vinegar to make the leftovers into a salad dressing that is great on lettuce and tomato salads. Below are the general directions, but if you don't have chutney, you can leave it out, and if you don't like curry, try something else--coriander, perhaps, or a little dry mustard, or just more ground pepper.

Spicy Basil Yogurt Cumcumber Dip

1 cucumber, peeled and shredded
2 tsps vegetable oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
3 Tbsps chutney
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper

Place cucumber in a sieve over a bowl for about 20 minutes to drain the liquid; press down on the solids to get out as much liquid as possible. Then heat the oil in a skillet over a medium-high heat and cook the curry powder until it just begins to bubble, about 45 seconds. Let it cool slightly, then in a bowl, mix together the cucumber, yogurt, chutney, ginger, basil, and curry powder. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pita chips or vegetables. To make salad dressing, whisk oil and vinegar (a little more oil than vinegar) together in a bowl, then add the cumcumber basil yogurt dip and whisk all together to make it the consistency of dressing.