Mustard Vinaigrette

Ever since reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, I've done a better job of really taking the time to find out where my food comes from.  I don't do the best job all the time, but I am making more of an effort.

One of the main things that's irked me is the amount of corn syrup that's in everything under the sun.  It's in ketchup, cereals, canned goods, you name it.  And one of my biggest disappointments was finding it was in one of my favorite salad dressings.  You make this whole effort to go the healthy route with a salad, and then it's ruined because of the nasty bottled gunk you put on top.  FAIL.

I paired the dressing with a spinach, cranberry

and walnut salad.

I certainly don't always have time to make my own dressing, but I thought I would give it a go with this recipe for a mustard vinaigrette simply because it seemed very hard to mess up.  And that it was.  I was pleasantly surprised with how well this turned out, although I will say that next time I'd decrease the amount of oil called for to make it a big lighter taste-wise.

The original called for all vegetable oil, but I opted for a blend of olive oil and vegetable oil.  I'm pretty sure though you could go with all olive oil if you didn't mind the different in flavor.  I also upped the amount of mustard by just a bit just because I love it so much.

I also thought of using this as a chicken marinade.....???  Maybe the leftovers can be used for such a dish!




Mustard Vinaigrette adapted from All Recipes
Printable Version
1/2 C white vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 C vegetable oil
4 drops hot sauce

*If you want a lighter version of the dressing, just slightly decrease the amount of oil called for.

In small bowl, whisk all ingredients together until combined.  Chill until ready to serve.

One and done.

If you leave the dressing sitting for too long you'll want to make sure and mix it up since the oil separates.