Hello friends, It’s Nelson. Happy Wednesday! How’s everyone’s week so far? We’d love to hear from you. We invite you to let us know what you think of our stories, our blog and most importantly, our recipes! Comments and feedback can be entered at the bottom of all of our posts.
Salad Dressings… to buy or not to buy? In years past, we used to buy our salad dressing. I used to think that oil and vinegar was the only dressing made at home. Then, after some time of eating out plus access to so many food shows, I figured out that you really can make almost any dressing at home with very little effort. I’m not sure exactly how long ago it was, but we probably stopped using store-bought vinaigrette about 10 years ago.
Our older guy has also gotten on the homemade dressing bandwagon. He loves to try new versions. He’s used lemon instead of vinegar, a variety of spices, sometimes sweetened and sometimes not, etc. I’m so happy and proud that he’s not afraid to experiment in the kitchen. I’ve mentioned to him on various occasions that by improving his culinary skills, he’ll be one of the few students not eating four-years’ worth of grilled cheese sandwiches while away at university. Not that there’s anything wrong with grilled cheese sandwiches, but it is possible to reach a limit.
The recipe we’re posting today, Maple Syrup Balsamic Vinegar Salad Dressing is a favourite in our home. We typically enjoy this on spring mix. Even our picky little guy, often comments on how much he enjoys this one. This is a bonus because the salad disappears off his plate without need for negotiation 😉 For those of you with kids, you know what I’m talking about.
The trick to making this dressing extra awesome is the whisking step. By whisking vigorously while very slowly pouring in the olive oil, the dressing becomes thick and creamy. This is a wonderful texture to dress a salad. Your guests will never believe it’s homemade! We used a fig-infused balsamic vinegar for a little extra flavour, but any quality balsamic vinegar will do.
So, will your dressing be “shaken or stirred”? Dress a salad and eat well friends!
- 4 tbs fig infused balsamic vinegar (any quality balsamic vinegar will do)
- 4 tbs maple syrup
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbs Dijon mustard
- ¾ cups quality extra virgin olive oil
- In a small medium bowl (I used a glass 4 cup measuring cup), whisk together the vinegar, maple syrup, salt, pepper and mustard.
- Carefully and slowly pour in the olive oil, while whisking vigorously. This technique will emulsify the dressing. The result should be a thickened creamy vinaigrette.
- Add to and toss with your favoutie salad!
[…] up some ingredients for this dinner/blog post… oh, and did I mention, that outside of the dressing, I wasn’t even sure what that meal was going to be? I stopped at one of our local grocery […]