August 7th means there is lovely basil growing in my garden. That means Pesto! This year when we planted our garden, I planted the basil which I bought from a farmer at the farmers market like the other plants in our garden like eggplant, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, red bell peppers, a stevia plant, some broccoli, a yellow squash and a zucchini. We have two small gardens, big enough to grow all of the plants we bought from our favorite farmer from the market. The 6 basil plants made it into the smaller of the 2 plots, which is next to a large arborvitae tree, which cast a shadow over the garden all but a few hours a day. Little did I know that the shade was exactly what the basil wanted to grow full beautiful bushes of basil!

I should call this blog What to Do with Bushes of Basil!

The easiest way to stay happy on the ketogenic diet is to have easy sauces on hand in the fridge to add to any meal to create a gourmet meal in a few minutes. Here are two such Easy Sauces:

Butter Pesto and Curry/Garlic Mayo

Butter Pesto:

2 ounce chunk of Parmesan cheese

Cut into 1/2 inch chunks and put in food processor and chop with metal blades until grated. Add:

2 cups walnuts and process

Add: 3-5 large cloves of garlic, process

Add: a little salt, generous freshly ground black pepper, loosely fill processor bowl with freshly picked basil

Pour over 1/3 cup olive oil.

Taste Pesto then correct seasoning.

Next add 2-3 ounces high quality butter, process until smooth.

Ideas: use as dip for turnip or eggplant fries, spread for low carb crackers, add to zoodles.

Curry/Garlic Mayo

It's my basic mayo recipe with curry seasoning and garlic added and it tastes divine!

Place in blender: 1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons apple Cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon Curry Powder

4 large cloves garlic

Start blender, I use a combination of either olive oil, MCT oil, avocado oil . I used 1/3 cup each.

While blender is turning at high speed slowly pour oil until you've poured the whole cup and the mayo forms into thick goodness. This curry mayo is great on burger, as a veggies dip, also good for eggplant or turnip fries and makes an awesome salad dressing.

I like to have sauces like these in my fridge. They are very easy to make and will last for a few days. They are great for potlucks and make any meal super special!