Creamy Basil Vinaigrette Recipe

Yum, yum, yum!  I love a good salad dressing, and who doesn't?  It makes eating veggies easier.  I found this recipe one day while taking a visit to Burger King.  To make this salad dressing much easier to make, I recommend trying out the Bonjour Salad Dressing Mixer.
Just click on the picture to check it out or to purchase this cute mixer.

So here's the recipe to try!  Please send comments about how your experience was with this recipe!  I'd love to hear from you!

INGREDIENTS:
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Shallot, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, rinsed, dried and roughly chopped
1/4 cup natural rice vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup good-quality mayonnaise

METHOD:
1. Rinse and dry the basil leaves (a salad spinner would work well).
2. Place the salt, honey, mustard, shallot and basil in a blender or food processor.  Pulse for one or two seconds, several times, to combine.  Scrape the sides of the blender down with a spatula.  Add the vinegar and pulse again.
3.  Turn the blender on low and take off the cap in the center of the blender's lid.  Slowely pour in the olive oil.
4.  Once all of the olive oil has been blended in, turn off the blender and scrape the sides down again  Add the mayonnaise, cover and pulse again until the mayonnaise has also been fully incorporated into the dressing.

Store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Yield:  About 9 fluid ounces of dressing.

And just to state like they do on the recipe card, "This is not a recipe for the sauce used on the Italian Basil Chicken Sandwich or Wrap.  This dressing is not served in BURGER KING restaurants."

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Chewy Cupcake Brownies Recipe

Who doesn't love Chocolate Cupcakes or Brownies?  I love visiting the SparkPeople website, especially their recipes site.  While on there, I found these yummy cupcakes that are great for someone whose trying to lose weight, but still have their cake too! (Literally!) I copied and pasted the recipe as they have it on their site.  If you'd like to know the nutritional value, please visit the site by clicking on the link from where I got it. (Chewy Cupcake Brownies) 

This is also a great treat to give to kids without giving them that extra fat, or extra unwanted calories.  To make things more fun, try filling your cupcakes with more frosting or any other topping you'd like to insert.  Use the Cupcake Corer to help you fill your delicious cupcakes.  Visit Surlatable.com to purchase your cupcake corer!  I have provided the link so its easier for you to purchase! ^_^  Happy Baking my Bloggers!

Introduction

Remember how delicious Mom's brownies were? You can duplicate the taste for a fraction of the fat if you substitute cocoa for bittersweet chocolate and use applesauce in place of some of the butter or oil.

Minutes to Prepare: 15

Minutes to Cook: 20

Number of Servings: 12

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar, firmly packed
1 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar, firmly packed
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp vinegar, cider
1 1/2 tsp margarine, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a second bowl stir together remaining ingredients. Pour water mixture over flour mixture and stir until batter is smooth.
3. Pour into a nonstick 12-hole muffin tin coated with cooking spray, filling until half full. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
4. Remove from oven. Let sit 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack to completely cool.

Number of Servings: 12

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user DARBYMERRIMAN.