We have to warn you about something: once you try this lemon basil vinaigrette, you won’t be able to forge it. You may use up the first batch so quickly that you have to make it three more times in the same week! Due to the slightly tangy, herbaceous, and and refreshing flavor, this vinaigrette goes great with various salad ingredients. You can even use it in a grain bowl once you finish cleansing.

There are many lemons to use for this dressing, but we recommend Meyer lemons if you can get your hands on them. Meyer lemons offer a slightly sweeter flavor that lends itself to dressings and lemonade. Just make sure that you zest the lemon with a microplane before you juice it. The lemon zest adds more of a citrus punch to this vinaigrette. The real star of the show, and the culprit behind the color, is fresh basil leaves. Do not use dried basil because you will not get the same flavor, nor will you have the vibrant color or volume required for this vinaigrette. You can pick leaves from a plant or use basil leaves that you buy in the store.

An important step for this basil vinaigrette is that you do not want to add all of the ingredients to the food processor at once. You can add everything except the olive oil. Once everything else is blending, you can drizzle in the olive oil during the blending process. By taking that extra step, you are left with is a smooth, emulsified, bright green basil vinaigrette that is to die for. If you don’t love it, we’ll take it!