Homemade Vinaigrette

With this whole Paleo thing, the only way to not go crazy trying to eat all those veggies is to accept that I need to eat salads.  I have a love/hate relationship with salads.  I love to eat them when prepared by someone else but when I make them at home, its just never the same.  Anyway, I knew I needed to change this and first thing on the list was making my own salad dressing.  It is just so much cheaper and it is entirely too hard to find a salad dressing that is all natural, somewhat low in calories, and doesn’t have any sugar in it.  It is amazing how they all have sugar in them!  I quickly checked online for the oil to vinegar ratio in a vinaigrette and got started.

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Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/3 cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Garlic Clove
Herbs to Taste (I used Herbes de Provence)
2/3 cup Water (optional)

I had gotten some first cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 12 year barrel aged Balsamic vinegar, and a dressing dispenser at TJ Maxx (love that store!).  I figured I want this dressing to taste delicious so I might as well use the good stuff (and it was cheaper at TJ Maxx than at the grocery store!).  I wanted to add garlic and herbs so I got out my food processor to get started.

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I had to blend it forever because the garlic wouldn’t chop (my garlic press is at home in NJ).  It also emulsified the oil and vinegar together too!  It was so thick, it wouldn’t come out of the container so I ended up adding almost an equal part of water to fill up my dispenser.  It was a good thing anyway because it was also very strong tasting.  Now its perfect!  Now let’s just hope that I can find some good salad combos that I can make at home that I also enjoy eating!  (Recipes welcome!)

4 thoughts on “Homemade Vinaigrette

  1. Fun! You made almost my exact basic vinaigrette (which I learned to do and made daily when I worked in France in my early 20s–rather than garlic, which I love, I used a diced shallot).

    I also mixed up a vinaigrette (different) last night & that will drop on my blog later in the week 🙂

    1. Oooh shallot! Good idea! And the dressing is going great on my salad (eating lunch now, lol).
      ~Ang
      PS. So behind on your blogs! But I have internet now and have been catching up!!

  2. Since I tend to eat a salad most days at work – it’s quick and I don’t have to heat it up since it’s tricky when I’m in the classroom – I get some artisan lettuce (or romaine if I can’t run to costco or Aldi for the artisan pack) then just toss in some protein – left over chicken breast, taco meat, canned salmon, sardines in oil…then some pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, if I’m in the mood, the crunchy dry seaweed (it looks like tiny squiggles) some chopped up peppers, jicama, (and carrots if I have lots of time…) It’s pretty much whatever veggies I happen to have. Sometimes, I’ll chop up a bit of apple, or toss in some slivered almonds. Be creative! Have fun…but don’t forget to stick your protein in there!!!!

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