Basil Vinaigrette

JLo and I took a trip to Prague and Budapest this Easter and we both returned with extra weight around our bellies :) You'd think all the walking we did in 6 days would burn off the extra calories but NOPE, it just made us hungrier and hungrier... to the point where all-you-can-eat buffets were the only places we could go to satisfy our appetites (or JLo's in particular). Sigh, that's 5 consecutive nights of buffets! I don't know how JLo did it, but my body died out after our 3rd dinner... from food poisoning! :( I'm still not sure what happened, but I'm guessing there was a bad reaction with the Mongolian barbecue and cheesecake... yea, what was i thinking mixing those two together? None of the food went down that night and i had the worst sightseeing afternoon the next day. Gah, it was horrible. My stomach seemed to repel anything that went in... so after the trip, i detoxed everyday with a bowl of tossed salad dressed with a basil vinaigrette . This dressing not only goes well with salads, but also great with grilled chicken or fish. So be sure to try this out on your next detox cycle, it'll make body-cleansing a lot more enjoyable :)

Basil Vinaigrette
from harvesteating.com
INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 small shallot (i used red onions)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil (a handful)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 9 tablespoons pure olive oil (not extra virgin)
• A pinch of salt
• Black pepper to taste.
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel and coarsely chop the shallots (or onions) and garlic [picture 1].
2. Add all ingredients into a jar and blend with an immersion blender until creamy (a blender could be used in the absence of an immersion blender) [picture 2, 3].
3. Add more vinegar if the mixture is too thick.
4. Pour vinaigrette into a container with a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator [picture 4].
5. Serve vinaigrette over salad. This may also be used as a sauce over chicken, fish, or steamed vegetables.
   

Basil Vinaigrette