Does anyone have a recommendation for a good store bought balsamic vinaigrette dressing or an easy recipe? I've tried a few and I haven't really found one I like but I always like the balsamic vinaigrette dressings I have in restaurants. TIA!
I like Newman's Own balsamic dressing: http://www.newmansown.com/4a1_balsamic.html. It tastes very fresh, unlike a lot of overly-preserved dressings out there.
I second this one...it tastes like the restaurant style balsamic dressing and it tastes the same in "lite" as it does in regular. So yummy!
i eat a lot of salad and usually make my dressings at home. store dressings never do it for me. if you have a some of these tiny glad or tubberware tubs, it makes it super easy.
I mean the little ones in the back.
balsamic vinegar - 1 part vinegar/juice to 2 parts oil
fresh juice of lemon (some balsamics are very strong to taste so I reduce it and add more lemon juice or even red wine vinegar)
olive oil
thyme (fresh or dired)
oregano (fresh or dried)
garlic fresh
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
optional chopped fresh basil
and this is also optional but I like it. I reduce the olive oil and do anchovie filets in olive oil (but you need to puree in blender or food processor)
I put all the ingredients (if I'm not doing filets) into a little Gladware and then shake it up. Viola.
If I'm doing Balsamic Vinaigrette for salad dressing, I'll usually just drizzle a little olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar over my salad and put some salt and freshly ground black pepper on top. It's the easiest and it's pretty tasty.
Sometimes I'll also just do a pretty basic dressing in a bowl to put over the salad. I'll use olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some dijon mustard (Grey Poupon is my fave cuz it's not too spicy), and salt and pepper. I'm not good at measuring, so I just put about equal amounts of each in and then adjust until it tastes right. Dijon mustard is great in vinaigrette because it acts as an emulsifier and you don't have to use a raw egg (eew!) You can also add a little bit of honey if you feel like it needs a little bit of sweetness. I like this recipe too because you can swap out the balsamic for red wine or rice wine or apple cider vinegars and get different flavors for different types of salads (can you tell I'm a bit of a foodie?).
Thanks for all the recommendations girls! I'm going to try to make some dressing and I'm also going to try the Newman's Own for when I'm feeling lazy.
NCshopper -I can tell your a bit of a "foodie" because my brother is a chef and his recipie for balsalmic dressing is very similar to yours! Thanks again.
I use Good seasons Itialian dressing mix and I love it. It is the one that comes in a packet and usually has a little salad shaker with it. I just replace the vinegar with balsalmic and the oil with olive oil. The best I have tried. I also like the newmans one.