Fresh herb vinaigrette – Fresh Foodie

Join Debbie as she raves about whole foods, rants about chemicals and generally celebrates cooking and eating with fresh, local, nutritious foods. And sometimes she might get a little feisty….

Like Molly, I champion the homemade salad dressing, and I’d go so far as to say I shun the bottled monstrosities out there. I feel like screaming into everyone’s collective ear, “Hey? Have you heard the news? It’s cheaper, healthier, tastier and nearly as easy as opening a bottle of crap sauce, so just try your hand at making your own vinaigrette, people.”

Do you have a whisk? A decent collection of vinegars, oils and herbs? Then you can do this, I just know it.bal

I’ve posted recipes for favorite vinaigrettes before, namely the maple mustard balsamic vinaigrette I am completely obsessed with. This new creation of mine, though, takes the homemade vinaigrette to the next level. It’s not just fresh food that you put your dressing on this time; this one’s chock full of fresh, lovely green herbs.

Fresh Herb Vinaigrette
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Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil (I like it tart, so I use less)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (time to get myself an oregano plant!)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
lots of freshly ground black pepper
at least 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (I used sage, basil, thyme and parsley)

chopped herbs

Let’s take a moment and discuss emulsification. I am a lazy emulsifier; I dump everything into a bowl and whisk the heck out of it and get what I get. If you really want to get a creamy vinaigrette, blend the vinegars, drizzle int he oil while whisking constantly until it’s thick and creamy and lighter in color. Then stir in the herbs. Another lazy trick I use is tossing the vinegars and oil into my Vitamix and whipping it into a frenzied emulsification.

The onion powder, besides adding flavor, will also help your dressing emulsify better. Mustard added to dressing recipes will do the same. Now that you have basically no idea how to emulsify your dressing, do my lazy thing and whisk the heck out of it and hope for the best.

I used this dressing on a salad with roasted veggies, almonds and feta and it was incredibly flavorful. It could go anywhere — a basic salad to pasta to quinoa and probably lots of things I’ve never thought of. It’s fresh and worth every flick of the wrist as you whisk it, so the next time you go to open your bottled dressing, I hope you feel really, really guilty and give this recipe a try instead.