Friday, March 18, 2011

Garlic Herb Vinaigrette

Here in Dubai, pre-made products are hard to find, expensive when you can find them, and don't taste quite the same as the products sold in the US. I learned how to make this salad dressing from scratch and it's definitely my favorite now! It's really easy to make. You just need a 2-cup measuring cup, a tablespoon, a whisk or fork, and a salad dressing bottle.

Ingredients:
Apple Cider Vinegar
Dijon Mustard
Dried Oregano flakes
Dried Thyme (not ground!)
salt
2 cloves of garlic, or the equivalent in pre-minced garlic
Olive oil

 First, pour 1/2c of the apple cider vinegar into the measuring cup. I make the entire dressing in this cup.
 Add garlic (I used a garlic press to crush the cloves)
 Add 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard.
 Rinse out the tablespoon and dry. You will put equal parts of thyme, oregano, and salt into the same spoon...so about 1 tsp each.



 Dump that in and give it a whisk.
 Then add olive oil until the 1 3/4c mark on the measuring cup.
 Pour the whole thing into the salad dressing bottle.
 Shake well, and it will look like this:
 I love it on a salad with fresh feta! Not that Athenos flavored crumbled stuff...the creamy stuff you get at the deli.
It takes no time to make this dressing! It stays good for about 3-4 days if you refrigerate between uses. The olive oil tends to congeal so you may need to pull it out about 30 minutes before you're ready to eat.

Here's the recipe:

1/2c apple cider vinegar
2 gloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp dried oregano flakes
1 tsp dried thyme - not ground thyme
1 tsp salt
Approximately 1-1 1/2c olive oil, depending on taste

Measure cider vinegar in 2c measuring cup. Add garlic, mustard, thyme, oregano, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add olive oil to about 1 3/4c mark on measuring cup. Pour into salad dressing bottle and shake well to combine. Refrigerate between uses.

The awesome thing about this recipe is that you can vary ingredients based on what you have. I've added white vinegar when I didn't have enough cider vinegar. You can use lemon juice instead of dijon mustard, or use 1 tbsp of each. You can also reduce the mustard to 1tbsp if it's too strong for you. Oregano and thyme can be used without the other, or you could try another herb. I've used a pinch of black pepper which was also good. As for the olive oil, most vinaigrettes call for 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil, but I like a little less oil in my dressing.

I hope you like it as much as we do!

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