July 24, 2025 • 20 mins
Summer brings us one of nature's most under-appreciated treasures: garlic scapes. These curly green stems, once discarded as mere byproducts of garlic farming, now take center stage in this episode's featured recipe - a versatile, cannabis infused garlic scape pesto that perfectly captures summer's bounty.
Whether you're new to cannabis cuisine or a seasoned chef, this garlic scape pesto offers endless possibilities for incorporating cannabis benefits into your meals in a controlled, intentional manner. Join me at the Bite Me Cannabis Club to connect with our supportive cannabis cooking community and share how you're using this versatile condiment in your kitchen!
Stop lurking and start connecting—head to JoinBiteMe.com right now. Find a private community of cannabis growers, makers and lovers who are just as obsessed or curious as you are.
Visit the website for full show notes, free dosing calculator, recipes and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello friends, welcome to episode 309.
And today we're talking aboutgarlic scape pesto.
Welcome to Bite Me, the showabout edibles, where I help you
take control of your high life.
I'm your host and certifiedganja, margaret, and I love
helping cooks make safe andeffective edibles at home.
I'm so glad you're here, hellofriends, and welcome back to
(00:29):
Bite Me, the podcast thatexplores the intersection of
food culture and cannabishelping cooks make great edibles
at home.
And today we are doing that withgarlic scape pesto, a twist on
a traditional, well-lovedsummertime favorite.
And I guess it's notnecessarily just a summertime
favorite, but I happen to begrowing some basil out of my
(00:51):
back deck and garlic scape hasbeen at the farmer's market, so
it just feels summery, eventhough pesto on a beautiful
pasta dish in the depths ofwinter can also be a welcome
envisioning of spring when it'sdark and gray outside, so this
can be enjoyed any time of theyear.
It just so happens to be thatI'm recording this in the summer
(01:13):
and, as a Canadian, I lovesummertime, and while I can't
speak for all Canadians, becausethere are certainly enough of
us out there who say it's toohot to them, I say shh, it's
going to be cold as hell?
I guess not cold as hell, coldas I don't know, whatever saying
or phrase you want to put inthere.
It's going to be super coldbefore we know it.
(01:33):
And it seems like sometimes youblink and the summers are over
and there's just something sonice and freeing about summer,
like you don't have to worryabout bulky layers, you don't
have to worry about heavy shoesand putting on socks and and you
can just step out your door andenjoy the day.
And it's kind of funny.
Before I started recording todayI was going to I was, I was
getting ready to set up andrecord and I get a phone call
(01:56):
from one of my daughters andshe's out walking the dog and
thought she would just give me alittle call and say hello and,
you know, chat for a few minutesand I'm chatting with her.
And then I get another call.
I'm on the line and it's myother daughter and she is also
taking her dog out for a walkand wanted to chat for a few
minutes.
So I chatted with her for a fewminutes and then I told her
that her sister was down at alocal park, because they both
(02:20):
live in the same area and I haveto say it is so nice to live
close to both my kids and it's areal privilege that I enjoy.
Hasn't always been like this.
My one daughter lived in thebig city for a little while
before the pandemic and she cameback to this area general area
and she'll be here for a while.
(02:41):
But they live across the streetfrom each other and I think
that's so lovely.
It's just nice to be close tofamily, but I like getting phone
calls like that because they'reboth very busy and I don't
expect them to always have thetime to make those phone calls,
so I enjoy them when I do getthem, maybe because they have
dogs.
That is why they're able to dothis.
(03:01):
They make time out of their dayto take the dog for a walk.
It's a good time for a check-invia telephone and I enjoy that
in a lot of ways too.
Because they both have dogs.
I don't feel the need to own adog because I can live
vicariously through them.
When I go visit, the dogs aresuper excited to see me.
It's like having your own petin a way.
(03:22):
Sometimes I look after them.
Not too often.
They're pretty good with youknow, respecting my time and
space, I do get to help out hereand there, and then I hear the
stories of illnesses and thingsthey barked at or chased or
other behaviors that you're like.
Ugh, I'm sure glad I don't haveone.
But I digress, I've beenlooking after people and plants
(03:46):
and animals for most of my adultlife, so I'm enjoying not
having to do that at this pointin time.
And it would be really hard toconvince me otherwise.
And I know because one of mydaughters does often send me
listings from the Humane Societyof super cute puppies or dogs
and as much as I admire them,the answer is always just like
(04:07):
no, I'm not tying myself downwith a four-legged creature
anytime soon.
Before we get into today'sepisode, let's do a little
stoner trivia, because I'mfeeling quizzy today.
Feeling a little quizzy, so I'mpulling a card out of the deck.
Stoner Travi I raised a 420.
I'm going to flip it over.
And it's a history question.
(04:29):
During World War II, the USgovernment gave prisoners
marijuana.
To produce what symptoms?
Hallucinate, confusion,paranoid or truth serum?
Now, this is something I havenever heard of before.
If you have, please direct meto some resources because I
(04:51):
would love to hear more aboutthis.
I mean, I've heard about thegovernment giving soldiers maybe
was it in the Vietnam War theywere giving them or
experimenting with LSD, is that?
Am I remembering correctly?
The memory is a funny thing,but the question is during World
War II, the US government gaveprisoners cannabis to produce
what symptoms?
Hallucinate, confusion,paranoid, a truth serum?
(05:14):
I really hate the tenses of allthese words.
Is it hallucinations, confusion, paranoid behavior or acting as
a truth serum, I think, is thebetter way to phrase it.
Well, if you answered acting asa truth serum, you would be
correct.
Now I would be very curious tohear how well it worked.
Do you find that you are moretruthful when you're high?
(05:35):
Let me know, along with what Ishould make next.
Now, of course, I do have.
I'll tease it a little bit.
I do have a couple of interviewscoming out in the next little
bit that I am excited to sharewith you.
The first one is Steve Stacey,author of Death by Cannabis and
a Death by Cannabis three up,and if you have yet to read
(05:56):
those two books, they are superfun read.
There is augmented realityinvolved and it's a murder
mystery that takes place in agrow up.
So he'll be coming on the showupcoming, and also I have Wesley
Holloway of the BenevolentBakery, and this fine gentleman
has created a company with areally large social component to
(06:18):
it.
He makes infused boxed mixes,like a brownie mix that's
already infused, and I'm reallyexcited to share that episode
with you too, because the stuffthat he's doing in the cannabis
space is.
It's amazing.
He really stood out amongst alot of the people who are in the
cannabis space making product,consumer products, because of
the work that he's doing in thenonprofit sector as well.
(06:39):
Just to tease those a little bit, those are coming out.
I'm really looking forward tothem because I do love doing
interviews.
It's one of my favorite thingsto do.
Not that I don't enjoy sittinghere talking to myself I do.
But, as I've mentioned manytimes before, podcasting can
sometimes feel lonely, which isalso another reason why I
started the Bite Me CannabisClub.
If you haven't yet checked thatout, go to joinbitemecom and
(07:04):
have a look and see if theremight be something that would
resonate with you.
We are a fun, super supportivebunch.
I don't feel so lonely anymore.
Let's get into today's recipe,which is garlic scape pesto, and
I had thought when I waslooking for ideas of things to
(07:26):
infuse for the show.
I thought you know I've done apesto before and I actually
thought I had done more than one, but that was not the case.
I have done a white miso pesto,which is also lovely, a twist
on the traditional pesto, andthat recipe was provided by Zach
Squire of Squire's SpecialtyElixirs.
That's the business he runs outof the USA.
(07:48):
His miso pesto recipe chef'skiss definitely worth checking
out.
So I would recommend that youcheck that one out if you're
into miso pesto.
But we are in a particular timeof the year where garlic scapes
are easier to find and if you'renot super familiar with them,
let me paint you a picture.
(08:09):
What exactly are garlic scapes?
So if you're unfamiliar, garlicscapes are the long, slender
flower stems that grow from thetop of hardneck garlic, which is
the type of garlic thattypically grows in colder
climates, specifically inNortheastern US and Canada.
So shout out to all myNortheastern US and Canadian
(08:30):
listeners you know probablyexactly what I'm talking about,
which makes me wonder can otherpeople get it as easily?
I'm not really sure, but upuntil recently these stems were
simply considered byproducts ofgarlic farming, but they have
started to make debuts atfarmer's markets.
Usually it starts in late spring, and that's because the farmers
need to harvest these garlicscapes early, so that the plant
(08:52):
can direct its energy towardsgrowing the bulb, which will
then be harvested in late summer, which may sound familiar to
you as well, as kind of like whyyou don't want your cannabis
plants to be pollinated, becausethen they'll direct their
energy towards making seedinstead of making that beautiful
bud that we're all here for.
So it's kind of a similar idea,also like with my basil on the
(09:15):
back deck.
If I pick the flowers off thebasil when it's growing, it'll
keep producing basil leaveswhich I can then harvest and
make delicious pestos with.
So it's a very similar concept,and when you see them, you'll
know the garlic skates becausethey look like super long, curly
green beans with a tapering tip.
They do have a garlicky flavor,but it's much more muted than
(09:39):
that of the bulbs and it has abit of a grassy flavor to it as
well, similar to scallions, butonce they're cooked their
texture is surprisingly denseand meaty.
So these are really nicebecause it can lend dishes a
hint of this garlic withoutoverpowering it, although I know
many of us do enjoy theoverpowering flavor of garlic.
(09:59):
What's not to love.
Now you can use garlic scapesanyway you would use green
onions, chives or garlic cloves.
But before you get started withcooking with garlic scapes, you
want to make sure you cut offthe tips and the bulb.
You'll see that there's like alittle bulb and I'll make sure
to add photos in the show notesover on the website once this
(10:21):
episode is live.
Just want to make sure, ofcourse, you give them a good
rinse to wash away any dirt orbugs.
Although they're pretty, thetexture of them is actually very
smooth.
I've never seen any that sortof hold on to a whole lot of
dirt or bugs in any case, but ofcourse it's always wise to give
your produce a wash, and whenit comes to cooking with them, I
mean the opportunities aretruly endless because they're so
(10:43):
sturdy.
They make a great substitutefor green beans and stir fries.
You can use them in omelets,frittatas, homemade pestos like
we're going to be doing todayvinaigrettes, pizzas in butters
there's lots of ways that youcan use them.
We're going to be using them ina garlic scape pesto, because
pesto is a creamy, savorycondiment that's great on
(11:05):
grilled meat.
Pizza pasta obviously is whatcomes to my mind oftentimes, but
I would enjoy it on many things.
I've eaten it a lot with eggsas well, because I find eggs are
the perfect canvas for all yoursauces and condiments.
So you might be saying how do Imake this pesto margarita?
Well, let me tell you.
I'm glad you asked.
We're going to get into it rightnow, and the one thing I really
(11:27):
like about this recipe is howsimple it is.
And in the summertime, as I'mrecording this right now, I am
looking for simplicity.
I barbecue a lot in thesummertime.
Everything, again, like Ialready mentioned, just feels
easier, and you want thatlighter fare, although this one
does do well in the wintertimeas well.
You just may not have access tothat fresh air basil, unless
(11:50):
you're putting it in your growtent, in which case maybe you
can have some fresh basil allyear round.
However, this would also freezewell, so keep that in mind too.
You could make a bunch of it inthe summertime and then label
it and freeze it.
So what you need for this recipeis garlic scapes, parmesan
cheese, walnuts, basil leaves,salt, fresh lemon juice and
(12:13):
olive oil, and that is it.
And this is where thesimplicity of this particular
recipe really comes in, reallyshines.
That's what I love about it.
It's very similar to making anyother pesto.
It follows this basic kind ofoutline but, as you may have
noticed, there is no garlic inthis one because you're using
the garlic scapes instead.
But, as you may have noticed,there is no garlic in this one
(12:34):
because you're using the garlicscapes instead.
Now, this recipe also called forwalnuts, and when I went to go
make this because I made this alittle while ago and I've been
using it and I'll be ready tomake another batch very soon I
find the garlic scapes do keeppretty well in the refrigerator
I'll get into that in a minutebut I didn't't have.
I realized I didn't havewalnuts on hand, so I used
(12:55):
almonds instead and that seemedto work just fine.
So sometimes you have to makedo with what you have.
If you have almonds instead,it's more of an almond pesto,
but the recipe actually callsfor walnuts.
I haven't made a pesto in sometime with pine nuts because I
find that the price of pine nutshave you seen the price of pine
nuts these days, holy mackereljust through the roof.
(13:16):
I mean I've only really seenthem, mostly at Costco, but I am
not prepared to buy a bulk bagof pine nuts.
I don't have a pine nut budget,unfortunately, so it'll be a
while before I'm making anypesto with pine nuts.
The nice thing about this is, ofcourse, it calls for a whole
half a cup of olive oil.
Now what you're going to bedoing, if you want to infuse the
entire recipe, you're going touse that half cup or a ratio,
(13:39):
because a half, full, half cupof infused olive oil is going to
make a very strong pesto, andso you're probably going to want
to do a ratio because you don'tneed you don't probably don't
need a whole half cup,especially if you're going to be
sharing this with other people.
But the reason I like thisrecipe so much is, if you decide
you want to infuse you don'twant to infuse the whole batch
(14:01):
you could easily take a littlebit of olive oil and add it to a
serving, and that would, ofcourse, allow you to adjust the
potency per dish, and I don'tthink it would be very difficult
to do that because just thetexture and consistency and
because it's you know it has alot of olive oil in it, it lends
(14:23):
itself really well to workingwith this, and I haven't done it
yet.
But what I'm planning to do isto go out to get a larger
dropper bottle for storing myinfused olive oil, just to make
it easier to do things like this.
And I want to have one for CBDand one for THC, just because I
want to be able to add themeasily and then when you label
(14:44):
them you know like a milliliteror five milliliters or how much
is in it per milliliter.
So that would be myrecommendation for infusing.
And basically what you're goingto do is you're going to prep
the scapes first, so you'regoing to remove and discard the
bulb end of the garlic scapesand then any rough stems at the
(15:07):
ends as well, and chop them intosmaller pieces.
And then you're going to puteverything the garlic scapes and
everything into a foodprocessor or blender which is
what I had, not as ideal, buteverything but the olive oil and
then you're going to mix it alltogether and then start to
drizzle in the olive oil, andyou're just going to do that
(15:27):
until it gets to the consistencythat you like.
If you want a runnierconsistency, you can add a
little more.
If you like it chunkier, youjust add a little less Lovely,
and the resulting pesto ispretty garlicky, so you can use
it sparingly, but it may not beas garlicky as if you're using a
traditional like traditionalgarlic cloves, and it is one way
(15:47):
to use this beautiful, thisbeautiful produce that you may
have be seeing at farmer'smarkets or in stores or coming
out of friends gardens, becauseI do have people that I know in
my life that have been offeringme up garlic scapes because they
have so many of them I have.
There's somebody that I knowwhose father plants a ton of
(16:09):
garlic Like.
I can't remember what thenumber was, but it was probably
like hundreds of heads of garlic.
So she's like would you likegarlic scapes here?
Take them, take them.
And so I've been getting prettycreative with what I'm doing
with my garlic scapes.
Well, I mean, like I said, Iadd them a lot to eggs.
I'll cook eggs or start stirfries with some of these garlic
scapes and I've grilled themright on the grill.
But pesto is one of my favoritethings to make with them.
(16:31):
It's that easy.
So you just need to figure outyour preferred dose, and I'm
going to put some stuff into theshow notes around that as well,
just so it can help.
But do remember I have acalculator on my website that
can help you figure out howstrong your olive oil might be,
so that you're not guessingbecause guessing is how you
Guessing is fucking around andfinding out, depending on where
(16:53):
you're at in your cannabisjourney and I'm pretty deep into
my cannabis journey I don'twant to fuck around and find out
, I just do not.
Life is too short right now forme to take myself out of action
because I got myself way toohigh.
I've done it enough timesalready and you'd think I've
learned my lesson.
I do try most of the time tolearn my lesson, but here we are
.
Here I am reminding you allDon't forget to label it.
(17:15):
If you've infused the entirebatch, please don't forget to
label it.
We don't need any mishaps anddo keep in mind that you can
freeze this.
So again, please label it.
If you do find yourself somegarlic scapes whether someone
has generously gifted them toyou or you've picked them up at
a farmer's market they're lightgreen onions.
Garlic scapes will last forseveral weeks into the crisper
(17:36):
drawer of your fridge.
You can toss them in a looseplastic bag that's slightly open
.
If you want to make them lasteven longer, then you're going
to want to cut off the roots,cut them in half, dry them off,
wrap them in like paper toweland then store them in like a
Ziploc bag in your crisper doorof your fridge, so you can store
(17:58):
them that way and that willhelp them last longer.
So this is a versatile.
I don't know if you would callthem vegetables exactly, but
they're greenery, so they'regoing to have some bit of
protein and vitamin C andcalcium in them, and that's good
for you.
I feel like anytime you eatsomething green it's a win, no
(18:19):
matter what form it happens tobe in.
So I think that's it for thisweek.
My friends, I hope you enjoy thegarlic scape pesto and I would
love to hear how you're using it.
Just something else that cameto mind was like, if you're
making a grilled cheese sandwich, you can put a thin layer of
pesto on it.
Oh, grilled cheese and pestoactually would be a phenomenal
(18:44):
combination, so I'm going to bethinking about that as well.
So if you have any otherinteresting ways in which you're
using garlic scape pesto or anypesto, I would love to hear it.
As always, let me know what youthink and what you think I
should make next With that.
My friends, I am your host,margaret, and until next time,
stay high.
Hello friends, welcome to episode 309.
And today we're talking aboutgarlic scape pesto.
Welcome to Bite Me, the showabout edibles, where I help you
take control of your high life.
I'm your host and certifiedganja, margaret, and I love
helping cooks make safe andeffective edibles at home.
I'm so glad you're here, hellofriends, and welcome back to
(00:29):
Bite Me, the podcast thatexplores the intersection of
food culture and cannabishelping cooks make great edibles
at home.
And today we are doing that withgarlic scape pesto, a twist on
a traditional, well-lovedsummertime favorite.
And I guess it's notnecessarily just a summertime
favorite, but I happen to begrowing some basil out of my
(00:51):
back deck and garlic scape hasbeen at the farmer's market, so
it just feels summery, eventhough pesto on a beautiful
pasta dish in the depths ofwinter can also be a welcome
envisioning of spring when it'sdark and gray outside, so this
can be enjoyed any time of theyear.
It just so happens to be thatI'm recording this in the summer
(01:13):
and, as a Canadian, I lovesummertime, and while I can't
speak for all Canadians, becausethere are certainly enough of
us out there who say it's toohot to them, I say shh, it's
going to be cold as hell?
I guess not cold as hell, coldas I don't know, whatever saying
or phrase you want to put inthere.
It's going to be super coldbefore we know it.
(01:33):
And it seems like sometimes youblink and the summers are over
and there's just something sonice and freeing about summer,
like you don't have to worryabout bulky layers, you don't
have to worry about heavy shoesand putting on socks and and you
can just step out your door andenjoy the day.
And it's kind of funny.
Before I started recording todayI was going to I was, I was
getting ready to set up andrecord and I get a phone call
(01:56):
from one of my daughters andshe's out walking the dog and
thought she would just give me alittle call and say hello and,
you know, chat for a few minutesand I'm chatting with her.
And then I get another call.
I'm on the line and it's myother daughter and she is also
taking her dog out for a walkand wanted to chat for a few
minutes.
So I chatted with her for a fewminutes and then I told her
that her sister was down at alocal park, because they both
(02:20):
live in the same area and I haveto say it is so nice to live
close to both my kids and it's areal privilege that I enjoy.
Hasn't always been like this.
My one daughter lived in thebig city for a little while
before the pandemic and she cameback to this area general area
and she'll be here for a while.
(02:41):
But they live across the streetfrom each other and I think
that's so lovely.
It's just nice to be close tofamily, but I like getting phone
calls like that because they'reboth very busy and I don't
expect them to always have thetime to make those phone calls,
so I enjoy them when I do getthem, maybe because they have
dogs.
That is why they're able to dothis.
(03:01):
They make time out of their dayto take the dog for a walk.
It's a good time for a check-invia telephone and I enjoy that
in a lot of ways too.
Because they both have dogs.
I don't feel the need to own adog because I can live
vicariously through them.
When I go visit, the dogs aresuper excited to see me.
It's like having your own petin a way.
(03:22):
Sometimes I look after them.
Not too often.
They're pretty good with youknow, respecting my time and
space, I do get to help out hereand there, and then I hear the
stories of illnesses and thingsthey barked at or chased or
other behaviors that you're like.
Ugh, I'm sure glad I don't haveone.
But I digress, I've beenlooking after people and plants
(03:46):
and animals for most of my adultlife, so I'm enjoying not
having to do that at this pointin time.
And it would be really hard toconvince me otherwise.
And I know because one of mydaughters does often send me
listings from the Humane Societyof super cute puppies or dogs
and as much as I admire them,the answer is always just like
(04:07):
no, I'm not tying myself downwith a four-legged creature
anytime soon.
Before we get into today'sepisode, let's do a little
stoner trivia, because I'mfeeling quizzy today.
Feeling a little quizzy, so I'mpulling a card out of the deck.
Stoner Travi I raised a 420.
I'm going to flip it over.
And it's a history question.
(04:29):
During World War II, the USgovernment gave prisoners
marijuana.
To produce what symptoms?
Hallucinate, confusion,paranoid or truth serum?
Now, this is something I havenever heard of before.
If you have, please direct meto some resources because I
(04:51):
would love to hear more aboutthis.
I mean, I've heard about thegovernment giving soldiers maybe
was it in the Vietnam War theywere giving them or
experimenting with LSD, is that?
Am I remembering correctly?
The memory is a funny thing,but the question is during World
War II, the US government gaveprisoners cannabis to produce
what symptoms?
Hallucinate, confusion,paranoid, a truth serum?
(05:14):
I really hate the tenses of allthese words.
Is it hallucinations, confusion, paranoid behavior or acting as
a truth serum, I think, is thebetter way to phrase it.
Well, if you answered acting asa truth serum, you would be
correct.
Now I would be very curious tohear how well it worked.
Do you find that you are moretruthful when you're high?
(05:35):
Let me know, along with what Ishould make next.
Now, of course, I do have.
I'll tease it a little bit.
I do have a couple of interviewscoming out in the next little
bit that I am excited to sharewith you.
The first one is Steve Stacey,author of Death by Cannabis and
a Death by Cannabis three up,and if you have yet to read
(05:56):
those two books, they are superfun read.
There is augmented realityinvolved and it's a murder
mystery that takes place in agrow up.
So he'll be coming on the showupcoming, and also I have Wesley
Holloway of the BenevolentBakery, and this fine gentleman
has created a company with areally large social component to
(06:18):
it.
He makes infused boxed mixes,like a brownie mix that's
already infused, and I'm reallyexcited to share that episode
with you too, because the stuffthat he's doing in the cannabis
space is.
It's amazing.
He really stood out amongst alot of the people who are in the
cannabis space making product,consumer products, because of
the work that he's doing in thenonprofit sector as well.
(06:39):
Just to tease those a little bit, those are coming out.
I'm really looking forward tothem because I do love doing
interviews.
It's one of my favorite thingsto do.
Not that I don't enjoy sittinghere talking to myself I do.
But, as I've mentioned manytimes before, podcasting can
sometimes feel lonely, which isalso another reason why I
started the Bite Me CannabisClub.
If you haven't yet checked thatout, go to joinbitemecom and
(07:04):
have a look and see if theremight be something that would
resonate with you.
We are a fun, super supportivebunch.
I don't feel so lonely anymore.
Let's get into today's recipe,which is garlic scape pesto, and
I had thought when I waslooking for ideas of things to
(07:26):
infuse for the show.
I thought you know I've done apesto before and I actually
thought I had done more than one, but that was not the case.
I have done a white miso pesto,which is also lovely, a twist
on the traditional pesto, andthat recipe was provided by Zach
Squire of Squire's SpecialtyElixirs.
That's the business he runs outof the USA.
(07:48):
His miso pesto recipe chef'skiss definitely worth checking
out.
So I would recommend that youcheck that one out if you're
into miso pesto.
But we are in a particular timeof the year where garlic scapes
are easier to find and if you'renot super familiar with them,
let me paint you a picture.
(08:09):
What exactly are garlic scapes?
So if you're unfamiliar, garlicscapes are the long, slender
flower stems that grow from thetop of hardneck garlic, which is
the type of garlic thattypically grows in colder
climates, specifically inNortheastern US and Canada.
So shout out to all myNortheastern US and Canadian
(08:30):
listeners you know probablyexactly what I'm talking about,
which makes me wonder can otherpeople get it as easily?
I'm not really sure, but upuntil recently these stems were
simply considered byproducts ofgarlic farming, but they have
started to make debuts atfarmer's markets.
Usually it starts in late spring, and that's because the farmers
need to harvest these garlicscapes early, so that the plant
(08:52):
can direct its energy towardsgrowing the bulb, which will
then be harvested in late summer, which may sound familiar to
you as well, as kind of like whyyou don't want your cannabis
plants to be pollinated, becausethen they'll direct their
energy towards making seedinstead of making that beautiful
bud that we're all here for.
So it's kind of a similar idea,also like with my basil on the
(09:15):
back deck.
If I pick the flowers off thebasil when it's growing, it'll
keep producing basil leaveswhich I can then harvest and
make delicious pestos with.
So it's a very similar concept,and when you see them, you'll
know the garlic skates becausethey look like super long, curly
green beans with a tapering tip.
They do have a garlicky flavor,but it's much more muted than
(09:39):
that of the bulbs and it has abit of a grassy flavor to it as
well, similar to scallions, butonce they're cooked their
texture is surprisingly denseand meaty.
So these are really nicebecause it can lend dishes a
hint of this garlic withoutoverpowering it, although I know
many of us do enjoy theoverpowering flavor of garlic.
(09:59):
What's not to love.
Now you can use garlic scapesanyway you would use green
onions, chives or garlic cloves.
But before you get started withcooking with garlic scapes, you
want to make sure you cut offthe tips and the bulb.
You'll see that there's like alittle bulb and I'll make sure
to add photos in the show notesover on the website once this
(10:21):
episode is live.
Just want to make sure, ofcourse, you give them a good
rinse to wash away any dirt orbugs.
Although they're pretty, thetexture of them is actually very
smooth.
I've never seen any that sortof hold on to a whole lot of
dirt or bugs in any case, but ofcourse it's always wise to give
your produce a wash, and whenit comes to cooking with them, I
mean the opportunities aretruly endless because they're so
(10:43):
sturdy.
They make a great substitutefor green beans and stir fries.
You can use them in omelets,frittatas, homemade pestos like
we're going to be doing todayvinaigrettes, pizzas in butters
there's lots of ways that youcan use them.
We're going to be using them ina garlic scape pesto, because
pesto is a creamy, savorycondiment that's great on
(11:05):
grilled meat.
Pizza pasta obviously is whatcomes to my mind oftentimes, but
I would enjoy it on many things.
I've eaten it a lot with eggsas well, because I find eggs are
the perfect canvas for all yoursauces and condiments.
So you might be saying how do Imake this pesto margarita?
Well, let me tell you.
I'm glad you asked.
We're going to get into it rightnow, and the one thing I really
(11:27):
like about this recipe is howsimple it is.
And in the summertime, as I'mrecording this right now, I am
looking for simplicity.
I barbecue a lot in thesummertime.
Everything, again, like Ialready mentioned, just feels
easier, and you want thatlighter fare, although this one
does do well in the wintertimeas well.
You just may not have access tothat fresh air basil, unless
(11:50):
you're putting it in your growtent, in which case maybe you
can have some fresh basil allyear round.
However, this would also freezewell, so keep that in mind too.
You could make a bunch of it inthe summertime and then label
it and freeze it.
So what you need for this recipeis garlic scapes, parmesan
cheese, walnuts, basil leaves,salt, fresh lemon juice and
(12:13):
olive oil, and that is it.
And this is where thesimplicity of this particular
recipe really comes in, reallyshines.
That's what I love about it.
It's very similar to making anyother pesto.
It follows this basic kind ofoutline but, as you may have
noticed, there is no garlic inthis one because you're using
the garlic scapes instead.
But, as you may have noticed,there is no garlic in this one
(12:34):
because you're using the garlicscapes instead.
Now, this recipe also called forwalnuts, and when I went to go
make this because I made this alittle while ago and I've been
using it and I'll be ready tomake another batch very soon I
find the garlic scapes do keeppretty well in the refrigerator
I'll get into that in a minutebut I didn't't have.
I realized I didn't havewalnuts on hand, so I used
(12:55):
almonds instead and that seemedto work just fine.
So sometimes you have to makedo with what you have.
If you have almonds instead,it's more of an almond pesto,
but the recipe actually callsfor walnuts.
I haven't made a pesto in sometime with pine nuts because I
find that the price of pine nutshave you seen the price of pine
nuts these days, holy mackereljust through the roof.
(13:16):
I mean I've only really seenthem, mostly at Costco, but I am
not prepared to buy a bulk bagof pine nuts.
I don't have a pine nut budget,unfortunately, so it'll be a
while before I'm making anypesto with pine nuts.
The nice thing about this is, ofcourse, it calls for a whole
half a cup of olive oil.
Now what you're going to bedoing, if you want to infuse the
entire recipe, you're going touse that half cup or a ratio,
(13:39):
because a half, full, half cupof infused olive oil is going to
make a very strong pesto, andso you're probably going to want
to do a ratio because you don'tneed you don't probably don't
need a whole half cup,especially if you're going to be
sharing this with other people.
But the reason I like thisrecipe so much is, if you decide
you want to infuse you don'twant to infuse the whole batch
(14:01):
you could easily take a littlebit of olive oil and add it to a
serving, and that would, ofcourse, allow you to adjust the
potency per dish, and I don'tthink it would be very difficult
to do that because just thetexture and consistency and
because it's you know it has alot of olive oil in it, it lends
(14:23):
itself really well to workingwith this, and I haven't done it
yet.
But what I'm planning to do isto go out to get a larger
dropper bottle for storing myinfused olive oil, just to make
it easier to do things like this.
And I want to have one for CBDand one for THC, just because I
want to be able to add themeasily and then when you label
(14:44):
them you know like a milliliteror five milliliters or how much
is in it per milliliter.
So that would be myrecommendation for infusing.
And basically what you're goingto do is you're going to prep
the scapes first, so you'regoing to remove and discard the
bulb end of the garlic scapesand then any rough stems at the
(15:07):
ends as well, and chop them intosmaller pieces.
And then you're going to puteverything the garlic scapes and
everything into a foodprocessor or blender which is
what I had, not as ideal, buteverything but the olive oil and
then you're going to mix it alltogether and then start to
drizzle in the olive oil, andyou're just going to do that
(15:27):
until it gets to the consistencythat you like.
If you want a runnierconsistency, you can add a
little more.
If you like it chunkier, youjust add a little less Lovely,
and the resulting pesto ispretty garlicky, so you can use
it sparingly, but it may not beas garlicky as if you're using a
traditional like traditionalgarlic cloves, and it is one way
(15:47):
to use this beautiful, thisbeautiful produce that you may
have be seeing at farmer'smarkets or in stores or coming
out of friends gardens, becauseI do have people that I know in
my life that have been offeringme up garlic scapes because they
have so many of them I have.
There's somebody that I knowwhose father plants a ton of
(16:09):
garlic Like.
I can't remember what thenumber was, but it was probably
like hundreds of heads of garlic.
So she's like would you likegarlic scapes here?
Take them, take them.
And so I've been getting prettycreative with what I'm doing
with my garlic scapes.
Well, I mean, like I said, Iadd them a lot to eggs.
I'll cook eggs or start stirfries with some of these garlic
scapes and I've grilled themright on the grill.
But pesto is one of my favoritethings to make with them.
(16:31):
It's that easy.
So you just need to figure outyour preferred dose, and I'm
going to put some stuff into theshow notes around that as well,
just so it can help.
But do remember I have acalculator on my website that
can help you figure out howstrong your olive oil might be,
so that you're not guessingbecause guessing is how you
Guessing is fucking around andfinding out, depending on where
(16:53):
you're at in your cannabisjourney and I'm pretty deep into
my cannabis journey I don'twant to fuck around and find out
, I just do not.
Life is too short right now forme to take myself out of action
because I got myself way toohigh.
I've done it enough timesalready and you'd think I've
learned my lesson.
I do try most of the time tolearn my lesson, but here we are
.
Here I am reminding you allDon't forget to label it.
(17:15):
If you've infused the entirebatch, please don't forget to
label it.
We don't need any mishaps anddo keep in mind that you can
freeze this.
So again, please label it.
If you do find yourself somegarlic scapes whether someone
has generously gifted them toyou or you've picked them up at
a farmer's market they're lightgreen onions.
Garlic scapes will last forseveral weeks into the crisper
(17:36):
drawer of your fridge.
You can toss them in a looseplastic bag that's slightly open
.
If you want to make them lasteven longer, then you're going
to want to cut off the roots,cut them in half, dry them off,
wrap them in like paper toweland then store them in like a
Ziploc bag in your crisper doorof your fridge, so you can store
(17:58):
them that way and that willhelp them last longer.
So this is a versatile.
I don't know if you would callthem vegetables exactly, but
they're greenery, so they'regoing to have some bit of
protein and vitamin C andcalcium in them, and that's good
for you.
I feel like anytime you eatsomething green it's a win, no
(18:19):
matter what form it happens tobe in.
So I think that's it for thisweek.
My friends, I hope you enjoy thegarlic scape pesto and I would
love to hear how you're using it.
Just something else that cameto mind was like, if you're
making a grilled cheese sandwich, you can put a thin layer of
pesto on it.
Oh, grilled cheese and pestoactually would be a phenomenal
(18:44):
combination, so I'm going to bethinking about that as well.
So if you have any otherinteresting ways in which you're
using garlic scape pesto or anypesto, I would love to hear it.
As always, let me know what youthink and what you think I
should make next With that.
My friends, I am your host,margaret, and until next time,
stay high.
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