Ingredients
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 5 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 3 tablespoons aged Spanish sherry vinegar or other wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
- 3 tablespoons chopped shallots or onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup fresh basil
- 3 hearts of romaine lettuce or whole heads
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Romaine Salad with Creamy Basil Dressing
Time: 10 minutes prep
Servings: 6
Directions
- Combine all ingredients (other than the romaine) in a blender and blend to a smooth consistency. Taste and adjust salt to taste.
- If you have only whole heads of romaine, remove the dark
- green, coarse outer leaves, saving them for another use, leaving the lighter colored, crisp ones at the core for the salad. Trim and discard the core. Figuring six to eight medium leaves per person, separate enough of the leaves. Wash and dry them well.
- Arrange the leaves slightly overlapping on plates, stir the dressing to
- recombine if it has separated, and drizzle it over the lettuce. Grind a little pepper over the top of each salad and serve right away.
- Alternatively, for a less dramatic presentation, cut leaves into thirds, place in a large salad bowl, and mix with dressing. Then serve. Either way the dressing is delicious!
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Summary
The crisp inner leaves of romaine lettuce goes wonderfully with this light and creamy basil-infused dressing. We served the same dressing the following night with a more traditional mixed green salad with lettuce, avocado, tomato and cucumber, and that was delicious too. If you're looking for a tasty alternative to a caesar dressing, give this a try! I've made a lot of salad dressings, and this is one of my few unqualified successes.
Menus and Pairings
Reviews
January 20, 2012
John, Just wanted to let you know we tried this creamy basil dressing this past week and loved it! We made it using a Red Wine Vinegar as that is what we had on hand. Our mayonnaise was a little thin when we went to use it, hence the dressing was a little thinner than we would have preferred but the flavors were spot on. We really have been enjoying using fresh basil, rosemary and sage, as well as drying and grinding our own herbs. We plan to do a large urban garden with plenty of basil this spring. We served the dressing over a mixed green salad using romaine hearts & red leaf lettuce. I was preparing dinner for my parents and they have come to prefer a mixed salad but we will prepare it in the future using only the romaine hearts. Thanks for sharing your recipe! MarianneI've cooked/tasted this recipe!
January 22, 2012
John: This a very good dressing. I made it last night for my wife and myself. I added cherry tomatoes, baby carrots and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano to the Romaine. My wife loved it. The salad accompanied a Salmon Saltimbocca dish I made. With a side of penne pasta and a nice white wine it made for a nice meal. Thanks for sharing and thanks for all the work you and others put into CES so that people like me have access to so many wonderful recipes!1 replyI've cooked/tasted this recipe!This is a variation
July 11, 2012
I made this dressing recently. It was great!I've cooked/tasted this recipe!
Comments
- January 12, 2012Sounds delish. I love salads and am always looking for new dressings to try. Thanks for posting!
