Balsamic salad dressing

[nina-gold]

Hi everyone,

I had, what I think was a balsamic salad dressing, at a restaurant over the weekend and it was absolutely delicious. Does anyone have a recipe to share?

Many thanks
Nina

 

[Snoop Puss]

Crumbs - there must be as many recipes as there are members of DC! I usually keep mine dead simple. One part balsamic vinegar to maybe five parts really good olive oil. Depending on what I want to dress, I might add a tiny amount of Dijon mustard.

But this is simple to the point of boring, perhaps. Other people here will give you some ace dressing recipes.

 

[kadesma]

Nina,
try mixing some walnut oil, finely chopped walnuts, balsamic, red wine vinegar a little peanut oil and some minced shallot together with a pinch of sugar, whisk and pour over your salad.Also good is about 3 T sherry vinegar, 3 T. balsamic, 1/4 c. warmed honey, 1 minced shallot, 3 cloves crushed garlic, 1/4 to 1 c. evoo salt and pepper whisk and pour over greens, this is also good on sliced tomatoes or over grilled shrimp as a marinade.

kadesma

 

[cjs]

Not a thing wrong with simple, snoop!! I drizzle just a little 'good' olive oil and toss the salad, then sprinkle with a little balsamic and toss again. Add your salt and pepper and you're good to go.

 

[lulu]

I am an Evoo and balsamic dressing person too. Mine is more like half and half though....just drizzled over. In fact, quite frankly sometimes I just use Balsamic with no Evoo....I can't get enough balsamic vinegar

 

[Snoop Puss]

I'm definitely not a drizzler! I emulsify the oil and vinegar (with mustard if required) in my serving bowl and then add the ingredients a few at a time, tossing between each addition of salad items. Lettuce or other greens go in first to make sure they're well coated. The dressing gets made right at the very last minute before the salad is required. And I might be mean with the balsamic vinegar, but I go to town on the olive oil.

I'm not a great fan of mixing balsamic vinegar and walnut oil. I'd go for a cider vinegar or perhaps no vinegar at all with walnut oil. One of my favourite simple starters is a little gem lettuce per person tossed in walnut oil served with walnut halves and some cubes of sharp blue cheese (Roquefort if poss). And I'm afraid it would have to be European walnuts for me: they're usually smaller and drier but so much nuttier than American or Chinese ones. This salad is a French classic and couldn't be easier.