Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

I had some balsamic vinegar that I used for I-can't-remember-what, so when it came time to make salad dressing, which happens frequently in my house, I remembered the vinegar and found a recipe.  Here it is!

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (any kind)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-4 cranks of the pepper mill (there's nothing like freshly ground pepper!)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup evoo (extra-virgin olive oil)

You may prepare this recipe by hand; I use a stick blender.

In a mixing bowl, place honey, mustard, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic.  Give it a blend with a few pulses of a stick blender.  Add balsamic vinegar and pulse again.  Add evoo in small batches, pulsing with the stick blender with each addition until emulsified.  If you over-blend the dressing, it will become very thick (not a problem other than for appearance's sake and ease of serving).

Store in a glass jar with a lid.  You may keep this in the refrigerator; mine sits out on the counter and does just fine there.

A note about garlic--I absolutely love the flavor of this dressing with the garlic, which is not overpowering in my opinion.  But if you'd rather have a more subtle garlic flavor, place your garlic clove on a cutting board, and place the flat of a large chef knife on top.  Then give the flat of the knife a good whack with the heel of your hand.  The garlic skin can be easily peeled/picked off, and you can simply plop the crushed garlic into your jar of prepared dressing.  Just be careful not to spoon out the whole clove when you're serving it.

To prepare this dressing by hand, use a whisk.  You'll get a very nice workout!

Drizzle some of this yumminess over a salad and it will become a tasty work of art!



Back to life,
Christine

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