Basil Vinaigrette

Nothing beats tomatoes in the summer time. Especially heirloom tomatoes.

My office is located south of San Francisco and there is a farmers market every Thursday from 4pm-8pm. This is a huge bonus. Farmers markets in the city are usually done and gone by the time I get back to the city and everyone knows that the Ferry Building on Saturday's is a zoo. Now, I have my very own farmers market in the cute small town where I work that I can shop at once a week. Yes!

Last week, I wet straight for the heirloom tomatoes. Drew is a tomato fanatic so I figured I would buy a bag of them and make a nice salad for dinner. I made this basil vinaigrette and served it with the sliced tomatoes and added burrata cheese and some sliced radishes. It was AMAZING.

Basil Vinaigrette

1. 1 small garlic clove
2. 1 cup packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4. 1 1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
5. Pinch of crushed red pepper
6. Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse the garlic until chopped. Add the basil and pulse until finely chopped. Add the oil, vinegar and crushed red pepper and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Basil Vinaigrette

Secret Valley Ranch Dressing

The grocer in my building doesn't carry Ranch Dressing, and the other day I felt like a little Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing on my fresh Michigan tomatoes. He does carry buttermilk, so I was able to fashion my own from this Internet recipe for "Secret Valley Ranch Dressing" and it is terrific. I don't know about the msg part. I guess that is kind of scary. It sure tastes good though.

"Indeed, ranch dressing was invented at Hidden Valley Ranch near Santa Barbara, California, by a real salad-wranglin' rancher. In the '50s and '60s Steve Henson and his wife, Gayle, shared their 120-acre dude ranch with University of California at Santa Barbara students and other festive partiers for rousing weekend shindigs. The dozens of guests were served meals of steaks and salads topped with Steve's special blend of herbs, spices, mayonnaise and buttermilk. As word got out about the fabulous dressing more guests were showing up at the ranch and walking home with complimentary take-home jars filled with the stuff. "


1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon msg (Optional- Accent brand is good and remember Kramer "Extra MSG!")
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1 pinch dried thyme


Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.
Cover and chill for several hours before using.

Secret Valley Ranch Dressing