Sometimes, I manage to pass by a Farmers Market midweek...
...as happened a couple of weeks ago. And then of course I cannot resist the urge to purchase more vegetables! "You say Tomaetoe, I say Tomaatoe" would have been the theme of this one!
And I bought plenty of tomatoes, whichever way you want to pronounce it. And some cool peppers (like shishito peppers which are always great grilled or sauteed). However, the most important find was a bunch of fresh shiso leaves... (see what Wikipedia has to say about shiso, and see also a useful intro in Makiko's JustHungry)
Prior to this, I had noticed the leaves of shiso by my sushi but not given too much thought to any of them other than eating them with sushi... So I was rather excited at the idea of trying another use for shiso at home. Why, but shiso pesto! (summer is for pesto after all) Pulsing freshly washed shiso leaves, salt and a bit of soy sauce, sesame seeds, pepper and toasted sesame oil as well as some neutral vegetable oil in the food processor gave a pesto-like result...
Simply served with a steamed round yellow squash...
By the way:
- I did not try (though I will some day!) but I gather that this pesto would be good with some (buckwheat) soba noodles...
- The pesto could be blended to a smoother form (I left it coarse).
- Sorry, I can't give exact quantities I used for this one, but it was about: one whole bunch of shiso (as in the first picture), 1/3 cup oil (you need to adjust the amount of toasted sesame oil to your taste as it is strong), salt/soy sauce to taste, 1/4 cup sesame seeds. I also added some mirin (again to taste). Try and experiment with it, it is pesto after all! :-)