Salads!

For Thanksgiving my contribution to dinner was the salad.

Soooo it's nothing fancy dancy but here is what I made.

Basically I bought fresh spinach & a mix of green leafy salad.

I chopped walnuts, dried apricots and crumbled & mixed in Gorgonzola cheese.

I made two salad dressings for people to choose from.

Creamy Dijon Vinaigrette by Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 6 tablespoons champagne vinegar (I used the Trader Joe's champagne muscat vinegar)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup good olive oil
• *1 lemon (not in original recipe but added in by me)

Directions

Minced garlic.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, garlic, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

While whisking, slowly add the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified.

Zest the lemon then squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into mixture ad whisk. *When I first tried the original recipe it felt more like a marinade than a dressing. So I added the lemon to freshen it up and give it a tangy dressing like flavor. 

Pancetta Balsamic Vinaigrette by Giada De Laurentiis.

Ingredients

The fresh rosemary came from Lonny's garden.

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 ounces thick-cut pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch-thick cubes
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 
  

Directions



Warm the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. 





Let cool slightly. 



Add the balsamic vinegar, rosemary, salt, pepper, and sugar. 

Put the lid on tightly and shake to combine. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, replace the lid again, and shake to combine.

In the end I had two different salad dressings that were delicious!



Look at the oil seperating from the vinegar. 



Hope you enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!