First Salad of 2011

Look what we had for dinner last night!  The first BBQ dinner outside on the patio deserved a special treat.  A  salad of home grown lettuce and spicy mesclun mix with a vinaigrette was perfect.

Gently picking the outer leaves off the little lettuce plants.

Aerial view of the spicy mesclun mix - after picking a few leaves for the salad.

I've become a big fan of oil and vinegar dressings or should I say vinaigrettes.  They can be as simple or complex as you'd like.  They can be sweet and fruity or tangy and savoury.  And best of all, they don't require a recipe!  Use your imagination and follow a few simple principles and you're good to go.
 
Tid Bits I've Learned about Vinaigrettes

• Stick to a 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar ratio.  No matter what type of oil, what type of vinegar or what other ingredients you add, this ratio is the magic formula for great vinaigrettes.
• Try mixing different oils with different vinegars.  
• Don't get stuck on using only Extra Virgin Olive Oil, sure it's good but why not try canola oil, flax oil, hemp oil, walnut oil, etc.  In fact, try mixing a couple of different varieties together.  For example in the salad above I mixed canola oil with hemp oil.
• Try using different flavours of vinegar.  In our cupboard right now we have red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice vinegar, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and white vinegar.  I choose the type of vinegar based the final flavour I'm looking for and on the colour.  For example a nice balsamic vinegar gives a nice sweetness to a spinach and strawberry salad, but that dark colour might not work for a salad with cauliflower or other whites.
• Use a little lemon juice, lime juice or orange juice to substitute for part of the vinegar.  
• Keeping the oil and vinegar from separating is tricky - the two really don't like each other.  Keep whisking, blending or shaking until the very last moment before serving.  Adding a little mustard or honey will also help keep the emulsion from separating too quickly.
• Honey adds a little sweetness, cuts the acid from the vinegar and helps keep the oil and vinegar emulsion together a little longer.
• Add fresh or dried herbs like thyme, oregano, parsely, chives, cilantro, basil, etc. to your vinaigrette for even more variety.  Some crushed garlic is also a nice addition in hearty salads.
• For sweet vinaigrettes I like adding a bit of homemade jams or jellies.  I like the flavour and colour it provides, especially in a salad with fruit.
• A little salt and freshly ground pepper are part of every vinaigrette I make. 
• The best way to test your vinaigrette is by dipping a piece of lettuce in your mix, rather than tasting it straight off a spoon.

So, no recipe for you!  Go ahead and experiment.  If it doesn't work, you can always try again tomorrow, cause you know your going to be eating a lot of lettuce in the next month or so!