Balsamic Honey Vinaigrette

So this “cooking” thing is actually starting to pay off, financially anyway. For once, I actually had almost *all* of the ingredients on hand to make this tasty homemade balsamic honey vinaigrette salad dressing. I only needed to buy a few shallots (at a total cost of only forty-two cents). Compare that to the $3.50+ I would have spent on my favorite Marie’s brand dressing! This recipe is just as good, if not *better*, than Marie’s. And all you need is a blender!

Tonight I am simply tossing this dressing with romaine lettuce, dried cranberries, and some crumbly blue cheese, but I know it will do double-duty as a nice salmon glaze and as a tangy drizzle on tomorrow’s fresh caprese salad, so I made some extra.

Start by sautéing three finely chopped shallots and three minced garlic cloves. Set the sauté pan aside to cool while you prepare the blender. In the blender, add 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, salt and fresh ground pepper, and a 1/4 cup of honey. Add the cooled sautéed shallots and garlic last.

Add a cup of olive oil to a measuring cup. Blend the previous ingredients while slowly adding the olive oil in a slow and steady stream. The idea is to slowly blend these two seemingly unblendable liquids (oil/water) in a process called emulsification. It might separate later, but not to worry…just shake it up.

The result is a delicious, thick-but-pourable, tangy-sweet brown dressing. You might want to add more honey or balsamic vinaigrette depending on your taste. I’ve provided a photograph (above) just to show the texture, thickness, and the color of the version that I just made.