Do you ever get tired of the same plain vegetables? Do you ever wish you had a fancy sauce to spoon over your roasted asparagus, baked potato chunks, steamed green beans, or sautéed broccoli? Allow me to introduce this Lemon Basil Vegetable Spread. You see, it’s been raining all week long where I live. We’ve even had days of flash flooding. All I can think about and dream of is spring! Therefore, I wanted to taste a fresh lemon-basil sauce!
I was roasting a pan of asparagus for dinner and had no idea what to flavor to make it, aside from the usual balsamic vinegar. Do you ever feed that way? It’s just another weeknight dinner, but you want something special (without the hours of work)! I pulled out my handy Vitamix and tossed in a few ingredients, hoping for a lemon basil sauce to put on top of the asparagus stalks.
This experiment didn’t turn out quite like the sauce I had imagined. The texture is a bit chunky, but the flavor is spot on! I began with a hefty portion of dried basil and lemon juice. I wanted those to be the predominate tastes. Next I added salt, olive oil, and grapeseed oil. At this point I turned on the blender and waited to see what would happen. It was a churring along when I added additional oil, sesame seeds, and cashews. (Why not add some protein and nutty flavor?) I also squirted in a bit of mustard, which is my go-to, foolproof secret ingredient.
I let my Vitamix do the work of smashing and churning this sauce, until it was sufficiently mixed but still had some chunk. You could add additional oil, a spoonful of greek yogurt, or a bit of mayonnaise to thin out the texture, and then blend longer for a creamier sauce.
I spooned this mixtured over my asparagus and took a bite. It was refreshing with the lemon juice and had the right amount of earthy texture between the basil and the nuts. I can’t wait to make this again for roasted broccoli or steamed green beans!
Lemon Basil Vegetable Spread
Spice up your baked, boiled or steamed vegetables with this refreshing herb spread! ¼
Ingredients
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsp grapeseed, avocado, or sesame oil
- 1 tsp mustard
- ¼ cup of dried basil
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- ½ tsp salt
- Optional: 2 Tbsp cashews
- Optional: 1-2 Tbsp Greek yogurt or mayo
Instructions
- In your Vitamix cup, add in the ingredients in the order listed (liquids first).
- Turn on your blender and run for 30 seconds on medium-high power, until all ingredients are incorporated and mixed. It’s okay if it’s a little chunky!
- Optional: If you are adding cashews or greek yogurt/mayo, run for extra time to thin out the sauce and break down the cashews.
- Serve over a vegetable of your choice. Tastes great over asparagus, carrots, broccoli, or green beans.
