orange, honey & basil vinaigrette

1/2 cup good vinegar
pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 tsp mustard
6 tbl of olive oil
1 orange juiced
1 tbl of chopped fresh basil
1 tbl of honey

the other day we harvested our first lettuce of the season. p and j got in the garden with me and plucked some nice looking salad greens for dinner. every night since, we run back to the garden and grab more for dinner.

they’re peppery, sweet, fresh and so good. when you pick your own lettuce you really feel good about eating it, it just tastes better, looks better and is a lot more fun to eat (especially for kids who get a kick out of eating food they have grown themselves.).

the first night we used just plain old dressing from the fridge, but tonight, we got creative. i love making salad dressings but it is usually hit or miss for me. if you’re like me and don’t follow direction well, you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right (big smile). i either use to much vinegar or to much oil. (i clear my throat here) anyway…

what was for dinner? bbq’d scallops (which didn’t turn out to well, i don’t know what i did wrong) on top of fresh from our garden lettuce with tomatoes, olives, fresh cabbage with an orange vinaigrette. i finally got my act together and grabbed my mastering the art of french cooking and looked up basic vinaigrette’s. julia to the rescue!

julia’s basic recipe is as follows:

in a small jar whisk together 1/2 cup good vinegar, pinch of salt, 1/4 tsp mustard, 6 tbl of olive oil.

there you go basic vinaigrette, now what else to do with it?

i was looking for something with a citrus like taste. i looked over and spotted an orange. perfect. basil, check, that’s it. but then i added more.

1 tbl of honey, a twist of pepper.

got it! finally, i came up with a vinaigrette that was worthy of such a great salad! if your looking for a basic vinaigrette, try julia’s, want to add something to it, try the orange, basil and honey.

orange, honey & basil vinaigrette