Pinterest Win (kinda): Basil Vinaigrette

I think salads are underrated. They are yummy, made from fresh ingredients and very filling. Even since I was little I would make my salads very colorful and packed full of different vegetables. The different textures, colors and flavors make it much more fun to eat.

Obviously we can all have and make unhealthy salads. Add pasta, potatoes, anything fried, etc. If you have read any of my entries, you know damned well I like them unhealthy as well. I mean, DUH! But, I really do like the homemade healthy versions. The weird part of this is that I am not really into salad dressings.

Hear me out here... Salad dressings are fabulous and yummy. However, I actually like the flavor of the lettuce, carrots, celery, cucumbers, radishes... whatever you choose to throw in there. Dressings can help enhance these flavors, but normally people use too much dressing and it masks the flavor of the veggies. I can see you rolling your eyes at me right now. Whatever.

It's fun for me to experiment with homemade salad dressings. Since I made the Tomato Mozzarella Salad, I knew that I had some left over fresh basil. What a great time to try the Basil Vinaigrette I found on Pinterest.

Literally, it's olive oil, apple cider vinegar and fresh basil leaves. The blog has a couple good dressings on here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/10-delicious-diy-salad-dressings/#axzz3DKEDi44n. Who wouldn't love to make this? It takes less than 5 minutes. Hello! I brought this with my second salad to my Aunt's house for the twin's birthday dinner. I made the dressing about 30 minutes before I left for the dinner and honestly wasn't thrilled with the flavor that night. In usual Lee fashion, I used it and guilted my family into using it too.

Every one said they liked the dressing. I'm going with they are telling the truth. I mean, who would like to family!? ;) I can tell you that the dressing was very good the next day. So you might want to make it at least a couple hours early and then use it. Either way, I do recommend it.

The picture of the dressing was crappy. Unless you have a fancy bottle, it is not easy to take a picture of dressing. Heck, even the blog it came from doesn't have a picture of it. So, for your viewing pleasure, I took a picture of the salad with the dressing on it. Yes, I know it's hard to see the actual dressing. Get over it!

Go make yourself a salad before the veggies aren't in season and then they get all pricey.  Then you get all complainy, etc etc.

Pinterest Win: Tomato Mozarella Salad

Thursday night we celebrated my twin nephews' birthday at my Aunt's house. I was in charge of bringing the salad. I, of course, cannot make just one salad. Yup, I made two.

My Aunt was making chicken parmesan with homemade tomato sauce. Mom was in charge of bringing the dessert. Mom brought two... this runs in the family.

One of my favorite dishes is caprese salad. I especially love it when you can eat it in different ways. I didn't have enough sticks to serve it that way, so I decided to go another route. I remember that back in the day I pinned a caprese salad on Pinterest.

Photo from www.savorysweetlife.com

This recipe comes from a blog called Savory Sweet Life, which is quite the celebrated blog. Alice, who writes the blog, has been featured in the press including Forbes. She makes her kids some awesome cakes. You definitely need to check out her work. Keep in mind that Alice is also a photographer, so once again... her pictures are WAY better than mine. ;)

I did make one change to the salad, and added balsamic vinegar. Balsamic vinegar is similar to bacon in the fact that it makes everything better. Plus, it is always a great addition to caprese salad... especially if it has mini mozzarella balls in it. Calm down, I didn't say that balsamic vinegar is better than bacon... just versatile like bacon. Geesh, tough crowd.

As with many things, this salad is good the day you make it but it is great a day or two later. The longer the basil, olive oil & balsamic vinegar (in my case) marinate they really make the flavor of the tomatoes and mozzarella better.

From the picture you can tell that Alice has some different types of cherry tomatoes in her salad. At my local store I found red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Good enough or me! It really made the salad look more appetizing, and the yellow cherry tomatoes taste sweeter in my world. I like the play on flavors.

 

Go visit my Hungry Hungry Hippo board on Pinterest for this recipe. Or better yet, throw some tomatoes, cheese, olive oil & whatever herbs and other flavors you like together.