Quick Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette on a Hawaiian Salad

Salad is ubiquitously known as a diet super-staple. One can NEVER have too many leafy greens. I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible to eat enough volume to overdose on any given nutrient in leafy greens (disclaimer: not fact-checked, just widely accepted opinion). But a bowl full of greens can get boring pretty fast. Even with the plethora of toppings and novel ingredients available, it's important to dress your salad well. Just like a new pair of shoes, a new dressing can perk up a ho-hum meal. Making your own vinaigrette is easy and healthier than bottled dressings, because you determine what goes into it and can choose the freshest ingredients. Get a re-useable bottle and try it yourself! You'll never go back once you realize how much fun you can have experimenting with different spices, flavors, vinegars, oils, and juices.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup plain vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp diced garlic
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp ground ginger
Dash black pepper

Step 1: Assemble your dressing ingredients. You basically need a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio of sour to oils, and any spices you like. You can add sweetness like raspberry or sugar, or extra tang from citrus.

Step 2: Mix everything in a glass jar and shake it up well! You want to create an emulsion, where the droplets of non-oil are suspended inside the oil. Oil and hydrophobic things mix, while water-based things (like vinegar) won't mix with the oil. Make sure you shake well just before adding to your salad.

Step 3: Pour a few tbsp over your salad and enjoy! This dressing here was perfect on my Hawaiian Salad.

Ingredients in Hawaiian Salad:
1 cup spinach
2 slices ham, diced
1/4 cup pineapple
3 baby carrots, julienned
Sprinkle of mozzarella

So the next time your lettuce-tomato-cucumber combo gets a little bland, whip out a glass bottle and spice it up!

What's your favorite way to top a salad?