This salad dressing recipe hits all the notes I want to complement my salad – tart, sweet, complex and most of all, yummy. While it might not go with every single salad you make, it is the one I reach for most. This dressing can be made in five minutes- quicker than a trip to the store. I never buy salad dressing because, on top of the cost, the ingredients in them are (more than likely) ones you don’t want to eat.

While looking at Ken’s Honey Mustard Dressing, (left by renters) here are some of the ingredients: Citric acid, Tartaric acid, xanthan gum, oleoresin, calcium disodium edta, corn syrup and yellow dye #5. Do you really want to put that stuff on your healthy salad? The good thing about this dressing is you probably have all the ingredients at hand, with the exception of the shallot. I try to always have a couple shallots on hand, but an onion would work as well.

And one word about olive oil. While regular olive oil is fine for cooking with, you want to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil when making salad dressings, because it’s the number one ingredient and the better it tastes, the better your salad dressing will taste. I usually get mine at Trader Joe’s; it’s cold pressed and made in Italy. Spanish olive oils can also be delicious and it’s fun to test out different olive oils, as their flavors vary widely.

The Perfect Salad Dressing

Course: Salad DressingDifficulty: Easy

This is an easy and healthy salad dressing for almost any occasion.

Ingredients

• 1 shallot, minced

• 1 Tablespoon Dijon

• 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (seeds removed)

• 1- 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

• Place ingredients in a jar or salad dressing cruet and shake vigorously.

Notes

• This makes about 1/2 cup of salad dressing.