HaleyI’ve mentioned a few times how I’ve been on a salad kick since James Michael was born. That first week postpartum, when my mom came over to help me every day, I indulged in some wonderful salads, topped with a homemade balsamic-based dressing she whipped up. Since then, I can’t bring myself to dress my salads with store-bought concoctions, even though there are some good (healthy) ones out there. So every couple weeks I simply make another batch of homemade dressing. Each batch is a little different, depending on what I have in my pantry, but all are good. This last time, I decided to measure out all the ingredients so I could share it.
This dressing is tangy and sweet, and tastes wonderful on my favorite salad: spinach, spring mix, avocado, feta, smoked chicken, toasted pecans and strawberries–and lately I’ve added kale, english cucumber and grape tomatoes.
Sweet and Tangy Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 1/2 cup tangy dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup honey (molasses is good too)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp raspberry vinegar
- 2 tbsp orange muscat champagne vinegar
- 1 tsp herbs de province
- 3/4 tsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Simply mix all ingredients together. I have a plastic bottle I pour all the ingredients in and then shake until mixed. This recipe makes about 18 oz. I used to store this dressing in the fridge, but the oil separates so now I keep it in the pantry. One batch never lasts longer than two weeks around my house.
About the infused vinegars, you can really use any kind you like–or none at all. I love the Alessi brand vinegars, and the orange muscat champagne vinegar was a recent purchase from Trader Joe’s that is great.
All the pictures I have of my favorite salad were taken before the dressing was added, so I was waiting until we made our next salad to snap a picture to include in this post. I assumed I’d get one at lunch today, but the hubby decided on a salad at 7 a.m. for breakfast 🙂 He used kale, spinach, grape tomatoes, strawberries, turkey peppperoni, cheddar cheese, shredded carrots and toasted pecans. And yes, he regularly uses our mixing bowls as a salad bowl since our normal bowls aren’t big enough for him.
