5-Minute Avocado Basil Dressing

Sometimes, all a salad or a sandwich or a pile of sliced up raw veggies needs is a really good dressing to take it from ho-hum to absolutely marvellous. Lucky for your salads, sandwiches, and raw veggies, this avocado basil dressing is just the thing that’s needed to take them to that next flavour level. If you are a fan of pesto, you’ll love this dressing (thanks to all the fresh basil that goes into making it)!

Not only is this avocado basil dressing bursting with flavour and nutritional goodness, it’s also incredibly quick and easy to make. If you have 5 minutes, you have time to make this dressing.

I love this dressing, and I’ll tell you why.

1) It’s super easy to make.

2) It’s creamy and delicious.

3) Avocados. Enough said.

Avocados. Nature’s butter. They’re the perfect ingredient to add to nearly any recipe to give it a level of creaminess.

Not only are avocados delicious, they’re also extremely good for us. Avocados are comprised mostly of monounsaturated fat, which actually lowers cholesterol. This fat has also been linked to a lowered risk of cancer and diabetes. In addition, avocados contain lutein and zeaxanthin, two natural antioxidants that help keep our eyes healthy and our skin glowing. To boot, avocados also help us feel satisfied longer since hey have a whooping 11 to 17 g of fiber (Bowden, 97)!

So while this dressing is high in fat, this is the good kind of fat. Meaning, there is really no need to cower away from it! Go ahead and serve yourself generous spoonfuls of this glorious tasting dressing.

Now, what if (gasp!) you don’t really like the taste of avocado? Well, that’s okay, because the basil is the flavour that really shines through.

I use a full cup of basil leaves in the dressing to really give it that aromatic punch. The sweetness of the avocados do still come through though in a deliciously subtle way. However, if you don’t like avocado and happen to have super-sensitive tastebuds for the fruit, you could try substituting 1/2 of the avocado (not a full one because you still want the nutritional elements from the avocado) with 1/2 a cup of raw cashews that have been soaked for an hour or more. I haven’t tried adding cashews before, but I’m sure they’d add a really nice, yet, different flavour dimension. If you decide to use cashews, leave a comment to let me know how it turns out!

Indeed, while summer may be slowly coming to an end (based on calendar dates that is, this scorching heat we’ve been having would say otherwise), enjoying the taste of the season doesn’t have to. By bringing your basil plants inside once the weather turns cooler, you can enjoy it’s summer freshness all year long.

So what are you waiting for? Take 5 minutes and whip up a jar of avocado basil dressing to drizzle over chopped green salads, spread in sandwiches, and dip veggies into. Or you can always skip those options and just eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon (which may or may not have happened in my case…)

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Avocado Basil Dressing

This avocado basil dressing is incredibly flavourful and creamy and can be used on salads, in sandwiches, and as a dip.

Course dressing

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Author Jasmin Meere (thehappinesskitchen.com)

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves washed
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2-3 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt or to taste
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• water optional

Instructions

1. Slice avocados in half and remove outer skin and seed.
2. Place in a blender or food processor with remaining ingredients.
3. Add one tablespoon of water at a time until desired consistency is reached. No water is recommended if planning on using in sandwiches or as a dip.
4. Keep in a covered, airtight container for 3 days.

Quote of the post: 

“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”
-Dale Carnegie

Bowden, Jonny. The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What You Should Eat and Why. Gloucester, MA: Fair Winds, 2007. 97-98. Print.