I love balsamic vinaigrette, but I stopped using my favorite local SASS Balsamic Vinaigrette because it had a whole 2 g of carb per tablespoon, which is more than I wanted to use at this time. (Yes, I know that’s not a lot.) My organic aged balsamic from Whole Foods has 5 g of carbs per tablespoon (all of it sugar), so I thought making my own was out of the question.
Based on the ratio from Mark Bittman’s Basic Vinaigrette recipe, I made a wonderful dressing tonight that was just enough to cover 2.5 ounces of spinach (about 2.5 cups) and had only .5 g of carb. (Edit: this is wrong. Based on my balsamic vinegar it is 1.67. That’s what I get for trying to use the calorie count analysis instead of my calculator. My balsamic is significantly higher than most. Dammit. Still, in general, the carb count is correct.)
Recipe:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of herbes de provence because it was right in front of me. I may also add some minced garlic or roasted garlic the next time.
Every cookbook says: “the best dressing you can have is the one you whip together yourself.” When I have made my own vinaigrettes in the past, I usually reduced the oil, resulting in a flavorful dressing, but without the right consistency. Now, this 3 to 1 ratio feel exactly right. This dressing is so excellent that I began to wonder if it is in fact the best I’ve ever had.
I know I can use the same ratio to make my sesame oil miso vinaigrette, too, omitting the dijon and adding in miso.
It’s like a whole new world of salads have opened before me, and I can use salad dressing again.
This may be of interest to readers of this blog since it goes in to detail each week on how to use cutting-edge nutrition, exercise, and healthy lifestyle techniques to lose weight and live a healthier life. It’s free so I figured I would share it… you can sign up for the Trim, Tone & Tighten Thursdays newsletter at http://www.stephencabral.com