Monday, December 30, 2019

Lemon Basil Dressing - homemade





Lemon Basil Dressing
recipe by Steve Binder

makes 2 cups
2 oz container of basil leaves with small stems* finely chopped
½ cup honey
1/8
 cup apple cider vinegar
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1- 2 the juice of 1-2 lemons
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ c light olive oil (mild)


A local restaurant had the most wonderful lemon basil dressing and we always tried to bring home extra.  We would order extra with our meal but they rarely let us buy some to take home.  That would have been extra extra dressing and I guess that wasn't allowed.  

Enough was enough. We had to have that dressing.  My husband decided he was going to create a dressing that was as good or better than theirs and we would always be able to have it in the house! 

Since I no longer can trust premade dressings, this is made without any unnecessary preservatives, additives, MSG, nothing.  All real pure ingredients - as close as we could reasonably get. 

*I can usually find 4 oz containers of basil at our local Lucky's Market.  I take all the leaves off the big stems and leave the little stems with the leaves.  I whirl it up in the Cuisinart and divide it in half.  I usually get about 2½ ounces of chopped basil this way, so just over 1 ounce of basil per batch once it's all cleaned and chopped.

I put the 1+ ounce of whirled basil back in the Cuisinart.  Add in the lemon juice, minced garlic, honey, cider vinegar, and salt. Blend it all together and leave it running while slowly pouring in the olive oil.  The oil should emulsify the entire batch and it shouldn't separate for many days.  

The emulsifying process is new to me, so I'm not sure how long it will stay together.   But when I just whisked everything together, it stayed together long enough to pour onto my salads.  I like to put the dressing into a nice glass bottle (recycling at it's best - I use glass milk bottles or the Silly Cow hot chocolate mix jars.) I store the dressing in the fridge and when I want to use it, I let the contents warm up a bit and shake it real good to mix everything up again. If it's needed immediately I do a quick zap in the microwave.  




This is what the Lemon Basil dressing looks like when it's been just whisked together, no Cuisinart magic, and allowed to sit for a few minutes.  Just shake and pour to use.  


The photo at the top of the page shows the gifts that I'm giving to friends.  It's about 1 cup of Lemon Basil Dressing, in the Silly Cow jars.  They look so lovely, even though I can't for the life of my get the wording off of the jars.  I've tried a razor blade, nail polish remover, hot soapy water, the dishwasher - everything I can think of.  Sooo, the advertising is still on the bottles. That's the way it goes.  

I use the Lemon Basil dressing on so many things other than salad - steamed veggies, fried calamari, fish, chicken, a drizzle on sandwiches, etc.  It really is that good and versatile.



Lemon Basil Dressing
recipe by Steve Binder

makes 2 cups
2 oz container of basil leaves with small stems* finely chopped
½ cup honey
1/8
 cup apple cider vinegar
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1- 2 the juice of 1-2 lemons
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ c light olive oil (mild)


Prepare all of the ingredients, chop the basil in the Cuisinart, add the honey, vinegar, crushed garlic, juice of lemon(s) and salt.  Pulse until all is incorporated.  Then take the little lid off the top of the Cuisinart and slowly pour in the oil. When incorporated, stop the machine and taste test.  This is where you can add more lemon or salt if needed.  I use small lemons as they are easier to juice, so I usually need two of them. When taste testing is done, pour into desired container for storage in fridge.