Mustard Balsamic Vinaigrette

Salad dressing can make or break a salad. Every kitchen needs a winner like this basic dressing made with healthy oils! Use it to dress “regular” green salads or pasta salads- or even on cooked vegetables. If you like it, dedicate an attractive jar to it- use a marker to write the recipe on the jar and draw fill lines for the oil and vinegar.

Ingredients

½ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons coarse mustard I use spicy brown
1 tablespoon maple syrup or 1 ½ teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Store in the fridge.

Recipe Notes

You can adjust the sodium content to your needs and taste- keep in mind that every ¼ teaspoon of salt adds 590 mg of sodium to the whole recipe. Healthy people should aim to keep their sodium intake under 2000 mg a day. Many store bought dressings have over 300 mg sodium in a 2 tablespoon serving. The dressing can get goopy if it stays in the fridge too long. Just give it a shake. Makes 1 ¼ cups. From The Essential Eating Well Cookbook, 2004.