Basil/4 recipes

Cheese tortellini tossed in homemade spinach-basil pesto with sauteed shrimp, toasted almonds, and blistered cherry tomatoes. A restaurant-quality pasta dinner ready in about an hour.

Italian-leaning spiced black bean soup with basil, oregano, marjoram, and a finish of sherry and lemon. Pureed silky-smooth. High-fibre, gluten-free, garnished with chives and nonfat sour cream.

Baked chicken legs with a lemon-herb seasoning roasted until golden, then smothered in mushroom gravy and baked again until fork-tender. A two-stage roasting method for maximum flavor.

Ratatouille and cod stew with eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and crushed tomatoes in clam broth. A Provencal-style fish stew loaded with vegetables, served over rice.

Grilled steak with fresh corn salad: charred sweet corn tossed with tomatoes, bell pepper, basil, and red wine vinegar alongside garlic-rubbed strip steak. Summer cookout simplicity at its best.

Mediterranean veggie burgers bind nutty millet with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, and basil into hearty homemade patties. A wholesome vegetarian burger packed with real Mediterranean flavor.

Greek pastitsio layers tender pasta with a cinnamon-and-allspice spiced beef sauce under a creamy feta-and-parmesan bechamel. The Mediterranean baked pasta that eats like a warmly spiced Greek lasagna.

Grilled vegetable kabobs with yellow squash, boiling onions, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms basted in Italian dressing with basil and parsley. Low-calorie and served over brown rice.

Hearty hamburger and pearl barley soup with cabbage, carrots, and tomatoes in a balsamic-spiked beef broth. A frugal, freezer-friendly one-pot meal that stretches a pound of beef across six bowls.

Browned chicken simmered with eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, and tomatoes in olive oil, finished with fresh basil. A rustic Provençal-style summer braise.

Vegetarian eggplant tomato pasta sauce with dry sherry, red bell pepper, nutmeg, and fresh basil. A chunky, low-calorie sauce that simmers in under 30 minutes.

Fresh herb turkey loaf with oats, egg whites, red bell pepper, celery, parsley, and basil. A lighter take on meatloaf that's leaner and packed with vegetables.

Julienned carrots, Granny Smith apples, and celery braised with currants, honey, Dijon mustard, and apple cider vinegar, then glazed and finished with fresh basil. A sweet-savory fall side dish.

Rich turkey soup simmered for hours with wild rice, fresh herbs, and vegetables. Turn your Thanksgiving turkey carcass into 12 servings of deeply flavorful homemade stock.

Pesto is a fragrant green sauce that many people regard as one of Genoa's greatest gifts to the world. It is a natural complement to tomatoes. Recipe from the California Culinary Acadamy.

This pasta sauce is basically a variation on the Indian raita, a cooling, soothing combination of cucumber, cilantro and yogurt.