salad dressing » Living Lou

Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette

With warm weather comes cravings for healthy, fresh salads. The thing is, salads can get a little boring if you’re eating the same old dressing and vegetable combination every day. I know this first hand because that’s exactly what I did with this dressing. I’m surprised I haven’t posted this recipe for Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette because I would bring this salad dressing for lunch every single day of my senior year of high school.

Ever since I graduated from high school, (almost two years ago…wow) I haven’t been making this salad dressing nearly as often. The truth is, I don’t think I’ve been eating as many salads as I used to. I think that’s one of the side effects of university – healthy eating habits go right out the window. Recently, I’ve been making more of a conscious effort to eat healthy foods and snacks and I can tell you that I feel so much better. Is anyone else planning a health kick this month? Mine’s been going pretty well so far, I mean, I didn’t buy any chocolate covered pretzels last time I was at the grocery store.

Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette (makes 3/4 cup)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1/8 tsp salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt and pepper.

Next, while continuously whisking, pour in olive oil in a light, steady stream. Continue to whisk until olive oil is incorporated into vinegar and dressing has thickened, about 30 seconds. The dressing should be thick enough to coat a spoon (as seen in photo above). The oil and vinegar should not be separate.

Are you on a healthy kick too? What kinds of recipes are you looking for? Let me know. Give this Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette a try for your next lunch.

- Lou

Winter Kale Salad with Ginger Soy Dressing

I’m on a bit of a health kick right now. I’ve realized that eating healthy and delicious foods puts me in a great mood. While I do love to indulge every now and then (case and point on Friday with my rich and decadent and oh so delicious Snow Day Hot Cocoa), it’s foods like this Winter Kale Salad that make me the happiest. Food is such a powerful thing, it has the ability to be such a positive force and make you feel empowered, but it also has the ability to be an extremely negative experience. I wish that everyone could love and enjoy food as much as possible and it’s recipes like this Ginger Soy Dressing that I hope will make that possible.

It bothers me when people say that salads are so boring – they aren’t…well sometimes I guess they can be a little boring. I mean if you’re eating plain lettuce with oil and vinegar, then yeah, it probably gets tired pretty quickly, but you can jazz up a salad with a simple dressing. Find ingredients that inspire you; there are so many things you can add to a salad. Try adding radishes, green onions, kale, cabbage, mushrooms, apples, walnuts, raspberries, pears or green peppers…I could seriously go on for hours.

This Ginger Soy Dressing is the perfect dressing to balance out the bitterness of raw kale. The honey and soy sauce in the dressing just complement the kale wonderfully and you will be addicted to this salad in seconds. The ginger adds a nice Asian touch to an otherwise typical vinaigrette.

Winter Kale Salad with Ginger Soy Dressing
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients for salad

1 bunch kale, chopped
6-8 radishes, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
2 carrots, (make ribbons using your peeler)
Optional additions: cucumber, green pepper, leftover poached or roasted chicken

Ingredients for dressing

1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1-2 tsp fresh grated ginger (if you plan on leaving this in the fridge, use less ginger as it becomes more powerful the longer the dressing rests)
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic.

In a steady stream, add in the olive oil, whisking constantly.

Taste and adjust for seasoning.

This Winter Kale Salad with Ginger Soy Dressing is the perfect salad for lunch or to accompany dinner.

- Lou

Cranberry Vinaigrette

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed your Holidays and that 2013 has gotten off to a great start. My year started off really well, by the 2nd, I had already crossed off one of my goals! I have a feeling 2013 is going to be pretty great.

I’m sure many of you are starting off the New Year with a resolution to eat healthier. I don’t really make resolutions for the New Year, but I do set a bunch of smaller goals I plan to achieve in the coming year. One of those goals is to eat more vegetables in 2013 and this Cranberry Vinaigrette is a great way to enjoy veggies. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I have a ton of leftover, sad looking cranberries in my fridge and nothing to do with them.

I had a lovely break with friends and family, here’s a picture of my sister (on the left with Sophie) and I in front of our Christmas tree.

I’m a big fan of homemade salad dressings. They are really simple to make and a lot better for you than store bought. I’ve shared a bunch of salad dressings, so be sure to check them out here.

Cranberry Vinaigrette (makes about 2/3 of a cup)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1/2 cup french cranberries, halved
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions

In a food processor or blender, process the cranberries with the lemon juice, Dijon mustard honey and thyme. In a slow but steady stream, blend in olive oil. Continue blending until it has reached your desired consistency.

Keep in refrigerator, but allow to come to room temperature before serving.

- Lou

White Balsamic Vinaigrette

To say that it’s been hot in Toronto is an understatement. On Monday it was hotter than L.A and Athens, when does that ever happen in May? Never. There is really only one thing that you can eat during extreme heat and to me, that’s salad. I find that it’s really the dressing that makes the salad. I have to say that I find myself tempted to buy some of the crazy flavors available in grocery stores, like Bacon Ranch, but quickly realize that all the sugar, salt and added fat is not worth it. That said, I’m determined to make a homemade version of Bacon Ranch dressing at some point this summer.

Unlike bacon ranch, this White Balsamic Vinaigrette is a light, fresh and healthy dressing that goes well on just about any salad. It’s a favourite simple go-to dressing that makes a great side salad or works as a main as well.

White Balsamic Vinaigrette (makes 3/4 cup)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, garlic powder, honey and oregano.

Slowly, while whisking, pour in the olive oil in a steady stream. Season to taste.

This White Balsamic Vinaigrette is a light and refreshing salad dressing perfect for the coming sweltering summer months.

- Lou

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

I go through phases, you could even say obsessions with certain things. Sometimes it’s a movie, or a song, maybe it’s a band or a photographer, perhaps an ingredient or a food is grabbing my attention, but there’s always something. For instance, I’ve had a long time love affair with the films of Wes Anderson and roasted red peppers. Recently, I’ve become obsessed with The Devil Wears Prada.

I caught it on TV the other night, and let’s just say that I watched it at 9:30 and then again at 12. Yep. Officially obsessed, and I want to watch it again tonight. I feel like my film teachers would shake their heads in disgust if I said that I was obsessed with this movie. And my fellow classmates, I don’t even want to know what they would think. I don’t care though because I love it. The best part is that a couple of months ago I was lucky enough to attend a Q&A session with director David Frankel, and perhaps hearing him talk about the process of making The Devil Wears Prada (among his many other films) just made me fall even more in love with the film. Whatever the reason, I’m obsessed. You can’t deny that Meryl’s delivery of Miranda Priestly is just perfect, how she remembers all those lines and delivers them so quickly and with such a frosty demeanor. Love Meryl. Have I mentioned that before?

This salad dressing is packed with flavor. The roasted red pepper adds a nice sweetness and makes the dressing creamy without adding any sour cream or yogurt. I feel like Miranda Priestly would approve of this salad dressing, at least I hope she would!

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing (makes 2/3 cup)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 roasted red pepper
1/2 clove garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp basil

Directions

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until combined.

Now that is a delicious salad dressing that is perfect for Meatless Mondays.

Do you think Miranda Priestly would approve?

- Lou