Balsamic dijon vinaigrette

It's a rare occurrence that I buy salad dressing in a bottle. I started steering away from them a long time ago when I realized they typically had a lot of added sugar. Now, there are a lot of better brands on the market, but it's pretty easy to make your own. I have to admit though, I am pretty boring and often fall back on vinaigrettes. I make different kinds of vinaigrettes (see the Maple Dijon vinaigrette in an earlier post), and on occasion, I do venture into something vinegar free. But the fact is, I love vinegar of all kinds. And this is reflected in the way I make dressings. The typical ratio of oil to vinegar in a salad dressing recipe calls for much more oil, at least 3 times more. I reverse this ratio and am pretty heavy handed on the vinegar. So, you may want to keep that in mind if you use this recipe.

I have also taken to using white balsamic vinegar, as opposed to the traditional purple color. The reason? Many ruined white shirts. I inevitably splatter dressing on myself and have not figured out a good remedy to take out the little purple dots that have plagued much of my white apparel. I do think the taste is slightly different. I'm not exactly sure how. Perhaps one is a tad sweeter, but I can't remember which one. Maybe it's my imagination though.

The amounts in this dressing are my best guess, because I usually just go by look and taste. The key to dressing is mixing it really well or else all you'll taste is olive oil. You can either shake it up if you have a dressing container, mix it in a blender, or stir it very well with a fork if you're making it in a cup.

Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette
3 tblsp olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tspn salt, maybe a little more
1 tspn dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
a little pepper
perhaps a bit of dried basil if you'd like

1. Mix all ingredients except oil.
2. Drizzle in oil and mix really well in one of the above mentioned fashions.
3. Pour over salad a little before eating to let it settle.