Strawberry, Mint and Basil Vinaigrette (Paleo, Vegan, Whole30, Low FODMAP, AIP, SCD, GAPS)

Big news friends! I. Am. Officially. Done. Residency.

Wow.

It doesn’t really seem real yet. Last Thursday was my last day and it still feels like I will be going back to work at any moment here. But I’m not. Ahh that sounds nice. My pager hasn’t gone off in 4 days and it’s the most amazing feeling. I don’t start working again until July 25 which means I have almost a month of no work. Well let me clarify. I am actually still working really hard in the form of studying. I have my rheumatology exams to look forward to in September and October so I will be a full time studier until then. But as long as things go according to plan those will be my last exams ever! I definitely like the sound of that. A lot. Think of all the time I’m going to have after that to focus on things like growing the blog, spending more time with friends and family, working out, reading, and doing whatever else comes to mind. Oh I can’t wait.

To celebrate my last day as a resident Erik and I headed to one of our favourite restaurants, Market. For anyone in Calgary, if you haven’t been yet, you definitely should go. I highly recommend it. Their meals focus on locally sourced ingredients that are always prepared to perfection. I still need to figure out how to emulate their pork belly. How they get the inside so tender while still keeping the fat layer nice and crisp is a mystery to me. My one attempt at cooking pork belly in the past was a pretty big failure. But you can bet that once I figure it out I will be sharing the secret with you guys. Because that’s what friends do.

Nothing too exciting has happened in my life since my last post. Sorry I didn’t get you guys a recipe last week. My final couple weeks of residency were pretty busy with being on call and having two presentations in one week. Nothing like going out with a bang. But I am making it up to you this week with this Strawberry, Mint and Basil Vinaigrette. You have probably noticed that I don’t have many salad or salad dressing recipes on the blog. That’s because, unfortunately, my system still doesn’t handle salads well. Too many raw vegetables for this girl’s poor digestive tract.

But I have recently found a way to finally heal my leaky gut and I have been working on slowly adding small portions of salad back into my diet. And so far so good! I plan on sharing the diet and supplement regimen that I have been using to heal my leaky gut in an upcoming post. Because I am sure many of you could benefit from the same protocol. I finally had to come up with my own healing regimen since no other protocols or diets worked completely for me. While my symptoms were much better I would still have bad days from time to time that I couldn’t explain. It was frustrating! So stay tuned in the next few weeks for my post on how to heal leaky gut once and for all.

But enough about that for now. The point is that salad just isn’t salad with a really tasty salad dressing, so I have been busy concocting some pretty delicious salad dressing recipes for you guys. Starting with this one. Strawberry, Mint and Basil Vinaigrette. It looks pretty tasty doesn’t it? And I love how these pictures turned out!

I love using ingredients that are in season as much as possible. And since it’s officially strawberry season (at least in my part of the world) hopefully you can find some local, freshly picked, strawberries to make this dressing with. Because nothing is quite as good as freshly picked berries. That burst in your mouth flavour just can’t be beat! And the hints of mint and basil in this vinaigrette give this dressing a unique flavour that I am sure you are going to love. This is a great time to use some of your freshly grown herbs if you keep a herb garden (like I recommend in my free guide: 8 Ways To Save Money On The Paleo Diet).

Besides tasting great, this recipe is also compatible with almost every special diet out there. If you are eating paleo, Whole 30, Vegan, low FODMAP, GAPS, SCD or AIP you can enjoy this recipe. You should note that the SCD and GAPS guides list balsamic vinegar as illegal but this is because many store-bought brands contain sugar. If you are buying pure balsamic vinegar, or making your own, this is still SCD and GAPS legal. Just make sure you are checking your labels!

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Strawberry, Mint and Basil Vinaigrette

(Paleo, Vegan, Whole 30, Low FODMAPS, AIP, SCD, GAPS)

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
• 1/4 cup avocado oil Or, extra virgin olive oil. Consider adding another 1/4 cup if you prefer a thinner dressing
• 1 tbsp organic balsamic vinegar
• 10 large basil leaves
• 10 large mint leaves
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Place all the ingredients into your food processor or high speed blender (I personally use a Vitamix and love it) 

2. Blend well until smooth

3. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Note: This dressing will thicken when stored in the refrigerator so feel free to add more oil to get the consistency that you prefer if you don't use it right away. 

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