Spring feels like it has fiiiinally made its grand entrance along with THE most fantastical Italian dressing! Straight outta your salad dreams, I tell ya. Now listen here. We pretty much have three salad situations to go alongside our nightly salad routine. The first is this Balsamic Vinaigrette, which is so gosh darn delish and just like today’s recipe, it’s made in the blender. The second is my Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing–amazing. Having foolproof homemade salad dressing ready to go in the fridge just makes life more delish. And the third is when we feel like being super fast and don’t have the energy to get out more than a couple ingredients. We dump a bunch of pre-rinsed spinach in a bowl and simply toss with a hefty extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar of Modena, garlic powder, and plenty of salt and pepper. While most nights we lean toward the latter, our nightly salads are always exponentially better I take five minutes to involve a dreamy homemade dressing. I swear, it’s so easy! And it totally makes us want to eat more salad.
The low down on ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil: I adore the flavor of olive oil in salad dressing (just like in my Cilantro Lime Dressing) but any neutral flavored oil you keep on hand should work here. Apple cider vinegar: Love this stuff for its health benefits, but red wine vinegar is great, too. Honey: This helps balance the tartness of the vinegar without making the dressing taste at all sweet. Sometimes I add more if I want less tang and more sweet. Maple syrup works great, too. Fresh garlic: Such good flavor! Salt and pepper: Very important for flavor. Don’t go light here since the dressing will get diluted in the salad! Dried herbs: Italian flavor on repeat. I love to throw in a small handful of fresh parsley if I have it on hand, too. Water: You can add as much or as little as you want but keep in mind the more you add, the less flavor the dressing will have.
Why make salad dressing in the blender?
I know, I know…it’s another thing to wash. But hear me out! Blending the oil and vinegar and yummy additions helps emulsify them to perfection, leaving you with super smooth and creamy dressing versus one that separates easily and isn’t truly combined. Technically you could whisk all these ingredients together but I promise you it wouldn’t be the same. I use my Nutribullet which is easy to clean!
Tools for a rockin’ salad
A handy shaker bottle for storing leftover dressing (easy drizzling is key) Our go-to salad spinner for dry greens that dressing clings to A good pair of tongs for tossing Super cute wood salad servers A big salad serving bowl
Pretty please let me know if you make this dressing! And as always, if you’d be so kind as to leave a comment/star rating on the blog I’d be so grateful! THE SALAD GAME IS ON.
