Homemade Vinaigrette

Knowing how to make a simple vinaigrette may not seem like a coveted skill in the kitchen, but once you understand the base of making a dressing the possibilities are truly endless. I absolutely never buy a bottle of salad dressing, and I mean never. Not only is it an expense that I like to avoid on my ever growing food bill, but so many of them turn a healthy salad into junk. Rather than buying a bottle of salad dressing on your next trip to the market, stroll down the oil and vinegar aisle and buy the bases for making just about any salad dressing you can think of.

I love getting creative with salad dressings and I usually use to seasons as my inspiration. In the fall for example, I love making an apple vinaigrette with some oil, sugar, and apple cider vinegar as my base. The most important thing to remember when making a vinaigrette is the base ratio for oil to vinegar.

3 parts Oil - to 1 part vinegar

Use that ratio as your guide and adjust it to your preference. If you prefer a vinaigrette with a bit more bite to it, use a bit more vinegar or go the opposite direction of you prefer less of a vinegary bite. The types of oil and vinegars you use are also very much up to you as you'll find there are so many to choose from.

My last tip to making a great vinaigrette at home is adding a touch of Dijon mustard. The mustard will emulsify the oil and vinegar together so that they don't separate. Keeping the basics in mind, you can create countless salad dressings based of the flavors you enjoy. Here is a quick example of a basic dressing I use quite frequently.

Shallot Balsamic Dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

1 shallot finely diced

1 tablespoon of Dijon Mustard

Kosher salt and fresh Black pepper to taste