DEEP IN THE HART

Salad Dressings

I'm a real big fan of making our own salad dressings. Since I've posted so many comfort food recipes with butter and cream, I figured it was time to lighten it up a bit. Here are two yummy recipes of salad dressings + the salads I love them on. Enjoy!

House Vinaigrette

1/4c lemon juice

1/4c malt vinegar

1 clove chopped garlic

1 t dried basil

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1 1/2c olive oil

1/4c chopped fresh parsley

*Add first 6 ingredients to blender and combine. Slowly strem in olive oil while blender is running. Add parsley and pulse for 10 seconds until green in color, creamy, and smooth.

*Put this dressing over anything really, but my fave is a bed of field greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, and some goat cheese (if you feel like you need to spice it up a bit, you can form the goat cheese into a ball, coat it with panko bread crumbs and stick it under the broiler for a minute, then place the ball on top of the salad after it cools).

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4c balsamic vinegar

1/2 t maple syrup

1 T Dijon

1 t minced shallots

1 t minced garlic

1 t chopped rosemary

1/2 t fresh thyme

1 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/4 c water

1 c olive oil

*Add all ingredients except olive oil to blender. When combined slowly add olive oil in a steady stream until combined well.

*Serve over a spinach salad with crumbled blue cheese and spicy nuts

*Spicy nuts (if you haven't ever made them).... preheat oven to 350. Place nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds) on cooking tray and toast about 6 minutes. Place 3 T butter (guess I couldn't help myself), 3 T brown sugar, 1 1/2 t chopped rosemary, 1/2 t salt, and 1/8t cayenne pepper in saucepan and melt, stir to combine. Pour nuts into mixture and stir to coat evenly. Spread nuts back on tray and toast again for 5 - 7 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool nuts before adding to salad.