I love this dressing because it is light and fresh for summer salads or anytime of year. It is a perfect complement to salads or as a marinade for chicken/steak. You can play around with the ratios of vinegar to olive oil. I like a lot of vinegar so I would choose to make mine more 1:1 with oil but my husband says that a 1:3 ratio is more traditional so that is what I used here. If you like more acidic taste then up the vinegar or lemon juice. You can always make it this way then add more vinegar at the end if needed. The mustard acts as an emulsifier to help the oils and vinegar combine.
Please start making your own dressing to support your health and avoid the salad dressings at the store that may appear natural at first glance but when reading the label you will see soybean oil, canola oil, high fructose corn syrup among other nasties. If you still are not sure which oils are health then you may want to read my article here about which fats are healthy.
Urgent Alert: Also keep in mind that many of the olive oil brands you see in the store are mixed with soybean oil or canola oil to save money. I found one brand that I trust wholeheartedly made by a friend Tony Kasindrinos. It comes from his family farms in Greece that are newly certified to be organic even though they always have been. IT is cold pressed in small batches to ensure quality and freshness. I keep a huge tin at my house all the time to use for dressings, marinades and low heat sautees. We also used it in many recipes in our epic book Mediterranean Paleo Cooking.
Get the very best olive oil here. Enter code Grassfedgirl at checkout for 10% off your whole order!
Healthy Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup olive oil (the one I trust here)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or Kasindrinos fig balsalmic fresh squeezed lemon/lime juice
1 to 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, or Herbes de Provence (Kasindrinos also has a great greek spice blend that is wonderful)
1/4 cup gluten free mustard (I like this one)
pinch sea salt and pepper
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk or pour into a glass jar and shake vigorously. Adjust seasonings to taste. Pour onto salad (or use as a marinade then bake or grill meat after a few hours) and enjoy.
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