Simple Olive Oil/Balsamic Vinegar Salad Dressing

I have lots of salads to share with you, but first I want to give you my general plan for homemade salad dressing. It’s as quick as can be and unlike almost any store-bought dressing, it has no added sugar. No long list of ingredients or gummy-tasting stabilizers, either. Most prepared dressings use soy and other vegetable oils. I’ll get into the reasons olive oil is a healthier choice in another post. I do use a few other oils when I want a nut flavor or something very mild to go with a salad that contains fruit.

Here’s my basic recipe:

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Can't get any easier than this. Mix oil and vinegar in a three-to-one-ratio, add salt and pepper to taste.

Author: Mary Saylor

Recipe type: salad dressing

Serves: 4

Ingredients

3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Instructions

For each serving of a full plate sized salad, I use three parts of oil to one part vinegar. This gives a mild dressing without too much bite. For each diner I use just under one Tbs. of olive oil and one tsp. of vinegar.
To dress directly on the lettuce:
Put the shredded lettuce in a large mixing bowl.
Add vinegar first. (If you add the oil first, it will coat the leaves and the vinegar will just run off the leaves when you add it).
Toss.
Add olive oil second.
Toss again.
Add salt to taste.
Grind pepper mill over the salad to taste.
Alternatively, to make dressing first, then add to lettuce:
Combine olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
Stir together with a fork.
Immediately pour onto lettuce and toss.
Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

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