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A Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe to Make You Swoon

Lately, my household (or rather, Mr. Michelle Miller) has been rediscovering the joy of salads. Previously, I could not pass a salad off as dinner around here without hearing grumbling re: salad’s apparent lack of spiritual, emotional, and physical satiety factors. However, after I recently made a balsamic and olive oil dipping sauce for some bread at a family event, I have been hearing non-stop applause for the combination, especially when tossed with some green leaves and parmesan. Either the aliens have arrived and decided to inhabit the body of Mr. Michelle Miller, or his bachelor days of Top Ramen for morning, noon, and night meals may finally be going to the wayside. I’m clinging to the latter.

You can make a vinaigrette with several different types of oil. I’m a fan of extra virgin olive oil, personally, but you can also use any other mild oil, like safflower or canola oil. I personally feel that the bright, lightly peppery flavor of a good olive oil pairs brilliantly with balsamic. If you only have canola oil in the house, though, you should not feel hesitant about using it.

Picture of balsamic vinegar resting atop oil
Image courtesy of Chris Dlugosz

Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette

4″“6 Extremely Generous Servings
Preparation Time: 5 Minutes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice, or the juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic–minced, crushed, or pressed
1/2 tsp ground sea salt (table salt works, too)
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard–optional and gives it a little bite

Throw everything in a jar with a lid, or any other non-porous container, and prepare for an epic workout to go with your dinner. Twenty shakes should do, but I like to give it a solid 50 for the sake of my arms and abs. My job is sedentary: my heart could use the workout. Once prepared, drizzle one or two TBS per salad–more is less! I like to throw both our salads into a big bowl and toss them at the same time. You can store your vinaigrette in the ‘fridge for up to one week. Leftover vinaigrette also makes a stupendous marinade for chicken breast.

By Michelle Miller

Michelle Miller is a twenty-something blogger, cook, freelance writer and editor living in Seattle, Washington. She’s a feminist trying ever-so-hard to embrace her spaces, conventional or not. She looks forward to numerous bad hair days, burnt cremes, a soapbox or two, and maybe (just maybe) a yellow polka-dot bikini in the years ahead.

8 replies on “A Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe to Make You Swoon”

Lemon and olive oil and balsamic vinegar, oh my!  I do love vinegarettes for their versatility.

I think Mr Miller and Mr Cesy had the same epiphany when they discovered vinegarettes. We went through a stage where they appeared on everything. Mr Cesy whisks his vinegarettes, I think that was the attraction as he loves his whisk. I actually asked him if he was going to marry his whisk one day, I think I was quite drunk.

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