Mom's AWESOME Salad Dressing - Altered

My mother always made the best vinegrette/oil salad dressing - people rave about it. When she shared it with me, I immediately changed it up a bit - substituting balsamic vinegar for the white, and extra virgin olive oil for the canola. Yes, I feel I have improved upon my mother's famous dressing. A number of friends have asked me for the recipe, and today I thought I would share it.

The recipe is pretty basic:

- 2 parts Balsamic vinegar to one part...

- extra virgin olive oil (get a good brand – the generic brand of olive oil, especially, made a notable difference in my dressing when Jesse bought the local grocery store brand olive oil)

- Pampered Cheff Sun Dried Tomato spice blend

- Honey dijon mustard squirt or two

- Natural sweetener (honey, raw sugar, Stevia or other natural sweetener to taste)

Keep in mind that once the dressing is on greens, etc., it is not so sour – I caution not to overdose on sugar/sweetener.  

The dressing keeps well – if you refrigerate it set it out an hour or so before planning to use it so the olive oil can liquify again.  It is an awesome marinade over grilled chicken, in my opinion.

Right now my favorite salad mix is:

Organic spinach greens

Chunks of grilled, organic chicken

Fresh sliced strawberries, or Craisins

Almond slivers

Sunflower seeds – roasted, unsalted
A bit of fresh Parmesan or Feta cheese
Vinegar/oil dressing



Sometimes I add tomatoes and mushrooms if we have them – but is amazing how great that salad combo tastes on its own. The nuts and seeds really add to the flavor, as does the fruit... OR I will give it a southwestern flare and use black beans and grilled bell pepper slices in lieu of the nuts, almonds and parmesan, with a few crushed, baked, organic corn chips sprinkled on top.

Happy green eating!
Rita S.