New pesto recipes

Earlier this year, I included a recipe for mint pesto in our Spring Home and Garden section, which was published on April 8. It used both parsley and mint. I made the mistake of introducing both of them to a flower bed, and now it's a minty parsley bed.
When it comes to plants that want to take over the world, if you can't beat 'em, then you should try and eat 'em.
So I was happy when I saw the mint was big enough to start picking in this flower bed. I've also got it in two other beds, but it's not as big yet.  

I didn't want to go back and actually read the recipe (because I usually don't follow them anyway), so I made it up as I went along, adding the green tops of some garlic and what I later decided was too much parsley, as well as other ingredients listed below.

Once I had the pesto, I decided to make a pasta salad with the pesto as a dressing. I saw a recipe that called for orzo, mint pesto, feta cheese and ground lamb. Ground lamb was $7.99/lb at Safeway; chicken breasts were $1.99. I substituted grilled chicken breast, which I covered with pesto prior to grilling. I took the photo while the chicken was still grilling, so you'll have to use your imagination. 

The pasta salad was good, but because I used as much parsley as mint, it was almost too parsley-flavored for my taste buds. I decided to try making pesto out of just the mint. I changed up the recipe, substituting roasted, salted pumpkin seeds for the almonds.

For the ultimate taste test, I brought it to the Sentinel and made people taste both and vote on their fave. To my surprise, the results were fairly even. Eight people preferred the mint and parsley version while nine preferred the mint only version. I'm sure other people sampled and didn't vote, since I brought in two sleeves of Ritz crackers and they were gone before noon.

My hubby and I liked both, which thrilled me to no end. If you've got mint or parsley overtaking your herb or flower beds, try one of these recipes:
(Bear in mind that I never really measure anything, so everything is an approximation - add more or less to your taste.)

Spring mint pesto

3 - 4 cups mint leaves
1/2 C olive oil (could be more or less)
juice and zest of half a lemon
1/4 to 1/2 C roasted, salted pumpkin seeds
1/2 C feta cheese
1/2 to 1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic

Mint and parsley pesto

3 C mint leaves
3 C parsley
5 or 6 green tops of garlic (can also substitute garlic cloves, which will make it stronger)
1/2 C olive oil
juice and zest of half a lemon
1/2 C feta cheese
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 to 1/2 C almonds

Some people thought the mint and parsley pesto was bland, others felt like it had more flavor. Try them both and see which one you like.