A week ago a cast member of the play I'm in, "The Dining Room" (by A.R. Gurney), brought in some wonderful home-grown vegetables along with some oregano and Thai Basil. Wanting to use the basil right away, but having nothing to use it for, I found a small glass jar (4 oz.) and filled it with extra virgin Olive oil. I then cleaned the basil, muddled it a bit, and stirred it into the olive oil. I then put it in the refrigerator. (You can keep this infusion for a week.) The olive oil will solidify, this is fine. When you want to use it, simply scoop out a tablespoon or two and set on the counter for 15 minutes (if you're in a hurry, you can stir it until it melts.)
OK, that part out of the way, here's the delicious recipe I created--thought there may be a few of you who have these ingredients on hand and may want to try!
Ingredients
1-2 teaspoons of fresh dill seed (or weed) --I got this directly from my garden
1 Fage yogurt (Greek yogurt with honey--you will add the honey since it acts as an emulsifier)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 scant teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed if you have it)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon of the olive oil infusion (described in first paragraph--I pulled out some of the Thai basil leaves and added them to the salad)
2 cups poached chicken cut in bite-sized cubes
1 large cucumber thinly sliced
1 small onion sliced in 1/2 rings
handful of red grapes, halved
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I toasted mine for 2 minutes in the toaster oven and they were perfect)
Mix the first 7 ingredients well. Add the remaining ingredients except the pecans.
Refrigerate for several hours. Toast pecans just before serving and sprinkle over top of salad.
Enjoy!
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