Honey Lemon Salad Dressing From Scratch

Nothing beats hand made dressings and vinaigrettes.  Making sure a guilt free and healthy salad stays guilt free and healthy is best done from scratch.  So many salad dressings are made by mayonnaise based starters and contain higher amounts of sodium to act as a preservative.  Ever wonder how store bought salad dressings stay so long in the refrigerator?  Using dried herbs instead of fresh is one way of increasing a dressing's shelf life, also by an addition of unnecessary salt for preservation.  Know what that salad is dressed with, and what is in the dressing for a truly guilt free meal.

Honey Lemon Vinaigrette 

• 2 oranges
• 3 lemons 
• 2/3 cup honey 
• 2 pinches dried thyme (dry herbs increase shelf life of dressing by 2 weeks!)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 egg yolk
•  Salt and WHITE pepper
• 3 cups extra virgin olive oil

Directions: 

1. Using a cheese grater or hydroplane, zest all three lemons and both oranges and place zest into a mixing bowl.
2. Cut lemons and oranges in half and squeeze juice into the bowl.  Be sure to remove any seeds which had squeezed out.
3. Next add salt, pepper, thyme, mustard, and honey. 
4. Mince the shallot and garlic cloves well and add to bowl.
5. Whisk together ingredients, then add one egg yolk.  Continue to whisk well for two minutes.
6. Next, emulsify the Vinaigrette by slowly drizzling in olive oil while whisking.  The dressing has enough olive oil once desired thickness and consistency has been reached.  If dressing becomes too thick, loosen with orange or lemon juice.  If too thin, keep drizzling in the oil until thickened.

Recommended lettuces: 

• Spring mix packages found in stores.  
• Spinach 
• Butter lettuce, or, Boston Lettuce
• Combination of all three 

Recommended accompaniments: 

• Candied pecans or almonds
• Dried cranberries
• Mandarin orange segments
• Bleu cheese