I made this pesto using mint in part because I’ve become convinced that anything green can be made into pesto (basil, cilantro, mint, etc.) and because the mint in my fridge was threatening to go bad.  It gave a really nice pop to the pesto that lingered in my mouth and balanced the spice of the red chilis and creaminess of the basil.
Grocery:
5-6 half inch pieces of pecorino romano or parmesan reggiano 
2 tablespoons pine nuts
3-4 dried red chilis 
3 big cloves garlic, peeled*
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves plucked
1 bunch mint, leave plucked and stems discarded
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt to taste

Making the Spicy Pesto:
1. Add the pieces of pecorino romano to food processor and process until in small pieces.  
2. Add the pine nuts, red chilis and garlic and process until all are in small small pieces.  
3. Wash the basil and mint.  Dry the leaves with a paper towel or by wringing the water out.  Add the basil-mint mix to the food processor bowl.  Not all of the basil-mint mix may fit into your food processor bowl.  In that case, add the basil-mint in batches and process.
4. While the food processor runs, slowly drizzle in the olive oil through the top opening or add before running.  If all of the basil-mint mix didn’t fit, add the remaining amount and run the processor again while drizzling in the remaining olive oil.
5. Transfer from the food processor to a bowl.  Add salt to taste.  Refrigerate until ready to use. 

*For a milder garlic flavor, you can blanche the garlic pieces before using.  Put the peeled garlic cloves in a saucepan with cold water and bring to a boil.  Drain and then use as you would otherwise.

Spicy Pesto First Way: Whole Wheat Pasta with Spicy Pesto Marinara

Additional Grocery:
Jar of tomato sauce
Pasta (a wide ribbon pasta like linguine is suggested)
Crunchy loaf of bread on the side for sopping up sauce (optional but strongly recommended)

Making Pesto Marinara: Now that you’ve made the pesto, all of the work is done (although it goes so quickly that it hardly feels like work). Heat the jar of marinara in a sauce pan on medium-low.  Add about one and a half cups of the pesto and mix in.  I like to keep a nice balance between the pesto and marinara, so I know I’ve reached the right level when the sauce has a red-green look to it.  Enjoy over wide noodles, like the whole wheat linguine we had, or penne or rigatoni.  I would avoid angel hair pasta since the pesto tends to overpower thin, delicate noodles.

Suggested additions: A few handfuls of tuscan white beans would have gone nicely with this pasta with the added benefit of providing a dose or protein.  

Nutella Ricotta Stuffed Pancakes
(makes enough batter for ~8 pancakes)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups King Arthur unbleached white whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1 – 1 1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp. butter or vegetable oil (we use soy butter or olivio)
3/4 tspn. salt
2 tspn. baking powder
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. part skim ricotta cheese
2 tbsp. nutella
1 handful sliced almonds (optional)
Honey or syrup

First, whisk the flour, eggs, milk, butter, salt, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl until there are no clumps.  I�EUR(TM)m low tech on baking gadgets so I use a hand whisker.  Second, mix in the ricotta cheese and nutella.  Stir in the almonds.  Adjust the amount of milk as needed.  The batter should pour easily but not be too runny.  Third, heat a griddle and when hot, drop a pat of butter or vegetable oil onto the surface.  Drop about a 1/4 cup of batter on the middle of the skillet.  When the pancake starts to look firm and bubbles a bit on the top, use a spatula to flip.  Cook until the other side is browned.  Fourth, to keep the pancakes hot while you make a batch, you can either store each pancake on an ovenproof plate in the oven on low heat (~125 degrees) or place a piece of aluminum foil over a plate pressing it down on three sides leaving one side open to slide the pancakes in. Fifth, enjoy with a pat of butter topped by honey or syrup.

Roasted Home Fries

Ingredients:
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
Dried Italian herb seasoning*
1/4 tspn. lal mirch
Sea salt
1/2 tbsp. olive oil

*I use Trader Joe’s 21 Season Salute – it’s a mix of onions, garlic, black pepper, celery seed, parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano and more but any italian seasoning will do.