Raspberry-Red Wine Vinaigrette

With all the strawberries coming in to season, I have been going hog wild with strawberry recipes. Though there are no strawberries in this particular dressing, it does go very well on a strawberry and spinach salad (for which I made this dressing on this particular evening :)


Recipe:
1/2 cup fresh Raspberries (or 1/4 cup of raspberry preserves)
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Sugar or Honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 small Garlic clove, finely minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil


Add all your ingredients, except the olive oil,  into your blender or food processor. Turn on your processor for about 30 seconds until all those ingredients have pureed together .

Then add the oil in a small but steady stream so that the dressing can emulsify:

And you will get a BEAUTIFULLY-colored, creamy-textured, and smooth vinaigrette!

Enjoy over a yummy summer strawberry & spinach salad!

Champagne Vinaigrette

This champagne vinaigrette recipe is from the Nordstrom Cafe cookbook, and it goes well with candied walnuts in a fancy pear salad. It is a super yummy salad and it is a great one to serve when you have guests because it is impressively 'fancy', yet so quick and easy to throw together since these ingredients are always available, and most likely already in your kitchen. This vinaigrette could not be a more delicious and easy homemade touch to your salad. You'll have to try it for yourself :)


Recipe (the recipe in the cookbook makes ALOT of dressing, so I halved the recipe for you here and it is still good for 6-8 individual side salads!)


1/2 small Shallot
1 small clove of Garlic, or 1/2 clove garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons of smooth Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
1 big pinch of Salt
A couple cranks of freshly ground Pepper (recipe calls for white pepper, I used black and it was great)
3/4 cup Champagne Vinegar (White Wine Vinegar is a fine substitute if you don't have Champagne Vinegar on hand)
3/4 cup Canola Oil (you can also use Grapeseed oil as it also has a very light flavor. However, I wouldn't suggest using Olive Oil because it has a strong flavor of its own that competes with the flavors of the other ingredients in this dressing; but I guess if it's all you have you can try it?)


**Nutrition Noteworthy: Canola oil has the least saturated fat of any cooking oil, and its high heat tolerance, neutral taste and light texture make it ideal for many culinary applications. The FDA authorized a qualified health claim for canola oil on its potential to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease when used in place of saturated fat.


Add all the ingredients (shallot, garlic, dijon, sugar, salt, pepper, and vinegar) EXCEPT the oil, into your food processor and blend until smooth. Then, while the processor is ON, slowly drizzle in the oil to form an emulsion:

It is a beautiful, smooth, ivory dressing!

The lightness of a vinaigrette works great with this fancy baby green salad, yet the pungent flavors in this dressing stand up well to the hearty ingredients of pears, walnuts, and gorgonzola. A little bit goes a long way, so start by drizzling sparingly and add more as desired.

Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette

I know it's the middle of January, but we just had a few rogue, hot 'summer' days, so for dinner I made a fresh healthy salad to battle the heat. However, this recipe can also be appropriate for January because it follows the new year mindset of being 'healthy, wealthy, and wise'... I will show you how inexpensive, nutritious, and delicious this SUPER EASY lime-cilantro vinaigrette is over a simple southwestern salad.


Dressing Ingredients:
1 cup of packed fresh cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice (I used 3 whole, hand squeezed limes)
1/4 cup orange juice (I used 1/2 large, hand squeezed orange)
1 clove of minced garlic (again, I used my handy dandy garlic 'zoom' toy -seen in previous post)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Simply pack all the ingredients at once into your food processor (or blender)...

...Let it spin for about 10 seconds or so...

...and you have a beautifully colorful, DELICIOUS, and flavorful vinaigrette made from fresh ingredients:

Now pour it over your salad of choice. I think this dressing goes great over a fresh southwestern salad.

 Of course, you can add or subtract any ingredients to your liking, but this is how I like to create my southwestern salad (I like to add lots of color; Typically, more color means more nutrients): 

Colorful Nutritious Salad:

-2 heads iceberg lettuce, chopped (I've tried it with Romaine lettuce before, but I found that the Romaine didn't quite compliment the tex-mex flavors in this salad)

-1 large tomato, diced (good source of Vitamins A & C, and Lycopene -a cancer fighting antioxidant)

-1 avocado, peeled and diced (high in GOOD monounsturated fats)

-1 red bell pepper, diced (high in Vitamin C)

-1 can black beans, drained (high in Protein and Fiber)

-1 can corn, drained (Whole Grain, and a good source of Fiber and Protein)

-1 handful of cilantro, chopped (helps remove trace heavy metals, and fights infections)

Salads are so easy to tailor to your own preferences. For example, I usually like to add either grilled chicken or ground turkey with taco seasonings to this salad, but if you are a vegetarian this can be a great vegetarian-friendly dish without the meat because it is already full of protein from the black beans and corn- and if you wish to add more protein you can even add in some kidney beans, or some cheese too!

And it's a money-saving meal too:

Salad:

2 heads Iceberg Lettuce	$1.98
1 large Tomato	$0.50
1 Avocado	$0.88
1 Red Bell Pepper	$1.00
1 can Black Beans	$0.59
1 can Corn	$0.44
handful Cilantro (1/2 bundle)	$0.50

Dressing:

Cilantro (1/2 bundle)	$0.50
¼ cup Lime Juice (3 limes)	$0.99
¼ cup OJ (1/2 Orange from Grandma Joanie’s yard)	$0.00
½ tsp Salt	$0.01
½ tsp Pepper	$0.01
1 clove Garlic	$0.05
½ cup EVOO	$0.71

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Grand Total

$8.16

or 6 very generous servings of salad with dressing, which weigh in at  just $1.36 per serving