Italian Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

So, I recently had a birthday. For once, it took me a while to decide what kind of cake I wanted to make, but I had no problem deciding what I wanted to make for dinner. It was easy, anything and everything with fresh basil! I swear that stuff is completely intoxicating to me. I love the smell, I love the bright taste and how it perfectly accents so many dishes.

Salads are one of my most favorite things to eat for lunch or dinner and I especially love making my own dressings to go with them. So as part of my meal, I decided to make this Italian salad with a basil vinaigrette. The salad itself, although wonderful, is pretty traditional, but the vinaigrette is brilliant! What better way to get that basil-y goodness jam-packed into every bite than to whiz it up in the dressing? I loved it, slurped it and doused my salad in it. De-lish!


Italian Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
For the salad:
1 head romaine lettuce
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
2 tomatoes on the vine, (sliced, diced or chopped)
1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
olives (black or kalamata)
croutons (optional)
grated Parmesan cheese

For the vinaigrette:
Handful of basil leaves (about 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp sugar, to taste
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Prepare the salad ingredients and place in a large salad bowl, topping with croutons and grated Parmesan cheese.

To prepare the vinaigrette, you can do it one of two ways. Most of the time, I like to just put all my ingredients in a small mason jar, put the lid on and shake it up. However, I wanted the basil to be chopped up more than a rough chop so it would be more evenly distributed throughout the dressing, so I put it in my little Cuisinart and blended it up real well.

Serve over salad. Enjoy!


SOURCE: For the Love of COoking