Honey-Cinnamon Vinaigrette

Among many things, this website has become a great tool for me when I’m searching for an oft-made recipe.  It has totally saved me on many occasions when I am hunting through stacks of tried-and-true recipes, looking for a particular one.  As I have put the recipes here, I actually throw away the paper copy.  Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t find my favorite homemade salad dressing recipe here this afternoon!  It turns out I never added it here, because I wrote about it for Cooking Light, on one of their blogs, awhile back.  Oops!  This one is too good not to share with you (and put here so I can find it in a less crazy fashion than occurred frenetically this afternoon.  Thank God, Sarah came to the rescue and found it for me!  Of course, I had to write “Sarah, you are the best ever” ten times on the blackboard, but it was a small price to pay.).

You can read the back story in the old Cooking Light piece here, but the short version is that I fell in love with a Cinnamon Vinaigrette salad dressing years ago during one of our annual holiday trips to Bethlehem, PA.  The restaurant refused to part with the recipe, nor the list of ingredients, but fate intervened not too long ago, and the heaven parts and angels took chorus and I found a look-alike version from Southern Living.

Cinnamon.  It’s something you would never think to put in a salad dressing.  But this is where you have to trust me.  It works.  It’s not overly sweet.  Just overly right.  You likely have all the ingredients on hand to whip up a batch any time you want, and it’s heaps better for you than most bottled dressings you can buy at the store.

This is a perfect recipe to celebrate Fall flavors.  Mix it up with your favorite Mesclun greens, a few slices of ripe pears and Gorgonzola.  Definitely the Gorgonzola.  Tonight, I went with a perfectly ripe tomato that we scored at the farmers’ market, trying to eek out a few last bites of summer.  This dressing recipe is one not to miss.

Project 365
September 28, 2010, Photo #169

I do believe that with the addition of the hat … and the promise of candy … she will actually keep the wig on.  Although I’ve heard that “hope is not a strategy.”

Honey-Cinnamon Vinaigrette
Recipe courtesy of Southern Living, September 2008

• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until smooth. Serve immediately, or cover and chill until ready to serve. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.  (If you happen to not pay attention to the directions and mix all the ingredients together and skip the streaming of the oil, like I did, all will be fine, since that’s what I accidentally did tonight.)

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