Balsamic Vinaigrette

This delicious vinaigrette is good on green salads, cucumber salads, tomato or mushroom salads.   With a little more extra-virgin olive oil added, it makes a wonderful dipping oil for homemade breads to compliment your next Italian dinner!  I rarely actually measure any of these ingredients, but did so to develop a recipe I could finally get around to adding to my website recipe collection.  I have just never thought of dressings as needing recipes before.  I just start throwing stuff into a bowl until it tastes good enough to put on my salad.  🙂 I like to use this recipe also as a dip for bread when I serve Italian fare.  It is particularly good with my Gluten-Free Focaccia bread baked as a loaf, then sliced for dipping: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/gluten-free-grain-free-focaccia/.   This recipe is suitable for Atkins Induction, Keto programs, and Primal-Paleo as well.

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne)

¼ tsp. dried oregano, crushed

Dash salt

1/8 tsp. coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Mince garlic into a small bowl. Measure out all other ingredients into the bowl.  Stir ingredients well.  This is best made a day ahead, but that is not absolutely necessary.  Don’t be alarmed that your spices and garlic will turn dark overnight.  Balsamic vinegar stains foods that way. I transfer any leftover to an old bottle and just store in at room temperature in my pantry.  It keeps a very long time that way (the oil is the first to go rancid, so one smell will tell you when it is time to toss it out).  Store in your refrigerator if you prefer.  I usually use mine up in a week or so, so spoilage has never been a problem for me.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes about 10 Tablespoons of dressing.  1 T. contains:

99 calories

11 g  fat

.73 g  carbs, .40 g  fiber, .33 g  NET CARBS

.05 g  protein

36 mg sodium

7 mg potassium

10% RDA Vitamin E