A simple basil vinaigrette salad dressing that is wonderful on everything from salads to chicken, fish, beans and even boiled potatoes! Homemade goodness in a jar!
If you are one of those lucky green-fingered people who can keep plants alive longer than five minutes, I salute you: you are doing much better than me. I have long suspected I am toxic to plants as they appear to wither and die after a spectacularly short time in my presence. It is therefore with supreme optimism (or foolishness) that I regularly buy new basil plants after the previous one has succumbed. I just can’t resist that delicious basily-ness despite knowing what the outcome will be for the poor little plant.
I was more cunning this time, though. I had my sights set on making a basil vinaigrette salad dressing, so I whipped most of the leaves off my latest little green friend before he had a chance to expire. He is now sitting here, denuded and forlorn. Try not to feel too bad for him though; his sacrifice was not in vain.
And yes – I’m anthropomorphizing my plant. Don’t judge.
This simple vinaigrette can be made up super quickly to provide a much healthier and tastier alternative to shop-bought salad dressing. (Seriously – have you seen some of the ingredients in those things?) However, it’s not just salads that can benefit from this beautiful sunshine-in-a-jar; basil is ubiquitous in a whole range of Mediterranean dishes and it also makes a lovely sauce to drizzle over fish, tomatoes, beans and even pizza, chicken and boiled potatoes. It would be a perfect addition to my Turkish Shepherd’s Salad, in fact.
So get your blender out and start whizzing!
Basil Vinaigrette
Prep
Total
Yield 500 mls
A simple basil vinaigrette dressing that is wonderful on everything from salads to chicken, fish, beans and even boiled potatoes!
Ingredients
- 125g (2 cups, tightly packed) Basil Leaves
- 180ml (3/4 cup) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 80ml (1/3 cup) White Wine Vinegar
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 Teaspoon Sugar
- Pinch of Sea Salt
Instructions
- Place the basil leaves, white wine vinegar, garlic, mustard and sugar in a blender or food processor.
- Blend the ingredients until combined and the basil leaves are pureed.
- While the blender is running, slowly drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil and continue blending until the oil and vinegar form an emulsion.
- Add the sea salt and mix.
Notes
This dressing will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week if kept in an airtight screw-top jar.
Courses Dressings
Cuisine Mediterranean
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