Basil Vinaigrette

This spring we joined a CSA. CS what? CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. We pay a flat fee for the season and in return we receive a box of fresh veggies from a local farm, Little Red Organics, each week. They also do gorgeous bouquets of flowers as an add-on, as well as options for coffee, eggs and mushrooms. You can learn more about CSA’s here. If you have one in your area, I highly recommend joining!

It’s been a lot of fun trying new things. My favorite so far? Young turnips on the grill. I had no idea what to do with them, so I quartered them, tossed them with some olive oil, spicy brown mustard, salt and pepper, then had Evan throw them on the grill. Delicious!

A few years ago, I started making our own salad dressing to avoid the added sugars and weird ingredients found in most bottled dressings. I’d been missing the tangy taste of my old favorite – basil vinaigrette. When a lush bunch of basil turned up in our CSA box a couple weeks ago, I decided to take a crack at making my own. I can’t believe I waited so long to try! I scoured the internet looking for the best recipe. In the end, I decided to keep it simple with four ingredients: fresh basil, garlic, olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Toss a few peeled cloves of garlic into a food processor. Add a large handful of fresh basil along with 1/4 cup each of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Blend it all together until the basil is finely chopped and you’re done! Enjoy it on your favorite salad or even some green veggies with dinner. I tossed it with some grilled asparagus last week and it was fantastic. Honestly, I want to put it on everything I eat!