Friday, April 24, 2009

Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad with Dressing


As my first ever recipe post, I thought I'd start off with a simple salad and an even more simple salad dressing. With this refreshing taste, you'll immediately fall in love with this recipe I've came up with. I do hope you'll love this as well as I do.
What makes this salad so delicious is that it's so flexible with a person's taste because you can add or subract ingredients the way you like. You don't have to take my word for it, try it out yourself.
Takes about 15 minutes to prep, and 5 minutes to enjoy! Lol!

Cranberry Vinaigrette Dressing (2-3 Servings)
The reason why the servings are so small in size is because the dressing has a strong taste. If you would like to make more to save and bottle, just double or triple the amount of ingredients according to taste.

What You Need:
cutting board
food processor/blender
knife
measuring cup
tablespoon

Ingredients:
2 cloves of garlic
1/4-1/2 shallot (1/4 white onion)
2 tbsp. dijon mustard (sweet or mild preferred)
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1/8 c. dried cranberries
2 tbsp white granulate sugar/honey
salt
pepper

Instructions:
  1. With the cutting board, use the flat of the knife to crush the garlic and peel off the skin. Dice garlic and shallot (or onion) and transfer into blender.
  2. Measure the amount of dried cranberries in a measuring cup and transfer into blender as well as the rice vinegar.
  3. Add the dijon mustard and the sugar/honey to the blender by measuring accordingly with a tablespoon (or whatever you have on hand).
  4. Include the salt and pepper according to your own preference (I, myself add a few dashes of each).
  5. Close the food processor with the lid and blend until smooth. If you're like me, I prefer a little chunks of cranberry in my dressing.

You don't have to follow the recipe exactly as I have here. If you prefer a more tart taste rather than sweet, add a little more rice vinegar or dijon mustard. For more sweetness, add more dried cranberries, honey, or sugar.
You can store this dressing for up to two weeks in the refridgerator in a bottled container (I have mine in a glass dressing jar).

Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad
Now that you've created your own dressing, the salad, my friend, the salad is even more simple. Try this out; and again, this can be according to your own taste.

What You Need:
cutting board
knife
paper towel
strainer
large bowl
tongs/fork

Ingredients:
cranberry vinaigrette dressing
half can of pitted olives (sliced or whole)
lettuce/spinach (prepackaged preferrable)
sweet grape tomatoes
cremini mushrooms
boiled eggs
dried cranberries
walnuts/sliced almonds

Instructions:

  1. Wash the leaves under cold water in a strainer. If necessary, cut up leaves in small portions if leaves are too big. With a few sheets of paper towel, pat dry the leave and transfer into a large bowl.
  2. Add the cranberry dressing according to taste to the bowl. Toss the leaves to coat evenly with a pair of tongs.
  3. Slice boiled eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, and olives if necessary and add to the large bowl. Include walnuts, dried cranberries, or almonds. Add as much as you like!


Didn't I tell you it was easy? Now, there's no correct way to slice, dice, or cut any of the ingredients. If you like a chunky salad, go for it. Or if you like, small pieces are fine as well. If you don't like some of the ingredients mentioned here, you can always add your own to the mix. This salad is flexible for anyone's taste.

Enjoy!

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