I think it defeats the purpose of a salad when restaurants drench their perfectly healthy green salads with oil. My fiancé and I went for a food tasting two days ago (we're getting married in three months -- yay!) and was served this beautiful, colorful, salad but it was sadly drenched with too much oil (and not the good kind). I do not have oil-phobia. I actually think adding oil to a salad enhances the flavor. Just make sure you use a high-quality oil, like extra virgin olive oil, and not too much of it.
I'm having fish tonight. The fish market has these fresh tilapias so I don't want a heavy side that would risk overpowering the fish. This lemon vinaigrette that I am making would be a perfect compliment to the tilapia. I'm going to pour this refreshing dressing over a bed of baby lettuce, chopped up herbs, and asian pear. This dressing would also go really well with arugula. I think the lemon and sweetness of the dressing would really balance out the peppery flavor of the arugula. Maybe I should have bought arugula instead... boo... If anyone tries this dressing with an arugula salad, let me know what you think!
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The first step to making this healthy refreshing dressing is to zest a lemon. I also used a light agave nectar for this dressing. It's a nice alternative to honey. It's plant based so it's great for all you vegans out there! Plus, it's gluten free! You can use honey for this recipe but I find that the agave nectar really helps bring out the lemon flavor of the dressing.
Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp light agave nectar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Zest the lemon. It should yield about 1 tsp of lemon zest. Put into a bowl. Squeeze all the juice out of the same lemon and add to the bowl.
Add the agave nectar and dijon mustard with the lemon juice and whisk away until you no longer see chunks of dijon mustard. Add the extra virgin olive oil and mix again. Salt and pepper to taste.
Lemon vinaigrette taste best when it has a little time to sit so the flavors marry, about an hour. You can keep the dressing in the fridge for about two weeks.
*It is normal to see separation in any homemade salad dressings that contain oil. For homemade dressings that have been refrigerated, remove from fridge at least 15 minutes before serving.
Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp light agave nectar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Zest the lemon. It should yield about 1 tsp of lemon zest. Put into a bowl. Squeeze all the juice out of the same lemon and add to the bowl.
Add the agave nectar and dijon mustard with the lemon juice and whisk away until you no longer see chunks of dijon mustard. Add the extra virgin olive oil and mix again. Salt and pepper to taste.
Lemon vinaigrette taste best when it has a little time to sit so the flavors marry, about an hour. You can keep the dressing in the fridge for about two weeks.
*It is normal to see separation in any homemade salad dressings that contain oil. For homemade dressings that have been refrigerated, remove from fridge at least 15 minutes before serving.
