Basil Vinaigrette | 20something cupcakes

Any decent dinner party menu involves a big green salad. It’s just a fact of life.

Arugula + Avocado Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

A big green salad makes you feel better about indulging in, er, indulgent things. Things like fried chicken and blue cheese grits.

It’s just … a fact.

I hope that you do enjoy a big green salad, because if you do, you won’t try to argue with me here. There are people who do enjoy this sort of thing, you know. As a matter of fact, one of my dinner party guests told me he wanted more of this salad instead of dessert. Well, not entirely true – he still wanted dessert, but he said that this salad was so good that he just wanted to keep eating more of it. And this was after dessert was long gone.

If, on the other hand, you don’t enjoy a big green salad, allow me to let you in on a little secret. And it’s not, “adding bacon, because bacon makes everything better.” That’s also a fact, but it’s a fact everyone knows.

Can I get away with telling you avocado makes everything better? Maybe. You likely already know it, fine – but I think we can let that one slide moreso than the bacon statement.

How about this … how about we talk about the magic that happens when basil vinaigrette is poured, generously, over a vat of arugula? Now, this … this might be news to you.

A salad is always a good way to start the week, especially after weekends of food + drink debauchery.

Especially when said salad has bacon. And pan-fried fresh corn.

Um, yeah. I went there.

There’s also grape tomatoes, avocado, and grilled chicken. Probably some red onion. And did I mention there was bacon? And we can’t forget about the dressing. Or maybe we can – because I just did. I can’t remember what’s in the dressing. It’s definitely an herb vinaigrette. I’m thinking basil.

What do you think? Let’s go with basil. Chop some up, and add a good squeeze of lemon. Salt and pepper, and slowly whisk in your olive oil. That’s it. Fresh basil-lemon vinaigrette.

Let’s get back to this pan-fried corn. Eating it alone is heaven, and adding it to a salad is just outrageous. Fresh corn right off the cob, a little butter, and some salt + pepper = a party in your frying pan. I used to eat this stuff all the time growing up, and let me just tell you – it’s addicting. The fresh corn just sings here, but in a crunch frozen or even (gasp!) canned would do. But it would have to be a very big crunch.

Go. Make it. Now.