Well, Thanksgiving is over. From what I can tell, the majority of my friends had a wonderful holiday. I am no exception. It was a wonderful time with family and friends around our table. We all were responsible for bringing an item to the table for the meal. I chose to make a salad. Thinking ahead to overstuffed stomachs and excessive amounts of tryptophan, my choice was to go lighter.
My decision was based on kale. It’s the hot green right now, but besides that, it’s really delicious! Then I was led to dressing choice. Balsamic was the way to go. It is a rarity that I buy ready made dressing, and this time was no different. I haven’t made any balsamic in ages, but knew I didn’t want the straight oil and vinegar. Too boring.
So, I started experimenting. I made a base dressing of two parts oil and one part balsamic. (I used half olive oil and half canola oil as my olive oil was almost out.) A little later, I had four different types of dressing! I will tell you most about the one I ended up using, but will describe the others in case you are interested.
Ingredients going in.
Dressing after the blender.
Per the norm, measuring was at a minimum, but I tried to eye it and keep track as I knew I would be writing about it. So, here goes.
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup oil (stick to a neutral flavored oil such as canola, safflower, or a good quality olive)
1/4 cup natural apple juice (no sugar added)
1 heaping Tbsp coarse ground mustard
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend well until the mixture well combined. It will be quite light brown in color. Longer it sits, the better it gets. So, let it sit a while before you eat it.
The salad itself was quite simple.
Kale
Butter lettuce
Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Fresh pear slices
Toasted pecans
I assembled on the plates, as not to bruise the pears and to have better presentation. I wanted pumpkin seeds to start with, but could not find them in my county. Ha! Didn’t think far enough ahead to get any. I will try this again and with the seeds.
The other variations I made had the following ingredients: I made tiny amounts and have no measurements here- so you are on your own. This can just be a starter for you.
1. First was the same oil and vinegar base (2:1. You can do 3:1 if it’s too tart for you)
To that, I added nutmeg, allspice, cumin, pureed pumpkin (leftover) salt, and pepper. I would use probably 1/4 tsp of each of these spices and maybe 1/4 cup pumpkin. Blend and let rest.
These other two were a little different. I tried walnut oil instead. Different and very much an autumn flavor.
2. 2:1 Walnut oil to vinegar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, lots of fresh cracked black pepper, quite a few dashes of bitters. (This one was really different, but I loved it).
3. Last was the walnut oil and bv, along with Dijon mustard, brown sugar, black pepper, and cinnamon.
Plated and ready!
Give some of these a whirl and let me know how they turn out! If they are too tart, just add a little more oil. No problem!
Cheers, O
Life Skills 