Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

I wanted to make something light tonight for dinner, but I also wanted it to have tons of a flavor.  A good sauce was calling to me, so I decided to do a search for a lemon basil vinaigrette.  This is what I found.  It has not disappointed!

Ingredients:

Zest and juice of one lemon
2 cloves of garlic, minced  (I used a total of four)
1/2 cup of basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4-1/2 tsp honey
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine the chopped basil, canola oil, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste in a shallow dish. Blend the mixture with an immersion blender until well combined. Drizzle over your favorite salad ingredients and toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Adapted recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net
Original recipe by Tiny Green Mom

From http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2012/08/lemon-basil-vinaigrette.html

I don’t have an immersion blender so I just tossed all ingredients into a regular food processor.  It worked just fine.

I then needed something to put the dressing on.  Pearl couscous was also calling me as were fresh veggies.

So, I cooked two cups of pearl couscous (following the directions, this is 2 cups of uncooked pearl couscous with 2.5 cups of water).

While the couscous cooked I chopped the other veggies and sauteed them up.

I used the following:

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 bunch of mini green asparagus, chopped into small bites

1 box of baby bella mushrooms cut into small pieces—about 6 parts, sans stems, per mushroom top

2 ears of corn, boiled, then cut off the cob with a serrated knife

1 box of grape tomatoes

1 bunch of beautiful green scallions

I put them in the pan in that order.

Once they cooked for a few minutes, but not wilted, I mixed the veggies with my now finished couscous in a large bowl.  I poured the completed vinaigrette on it and poof!  Dinner!