Salad Dressing

I don't often make salads, only because I feel like they should not cost much, but by the time you get the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, and whatever else you want on it, the cost adds up.  For me, the right time to make a salad is when I have enough random things from other meals that I can just get the bag of lettuce, spring mix, baby spinach, whatever.  We have so many great salad fixings around the house right now.  Strawberries and grapefruit, dried apricots that we always have on hand from Trader Joes, pecans leftover from a bunch of bags we got to make Christmas goodies, goat cheese from dinner a few weeks ago, blue cheese because we always have it, a fresh green chili pepper from stuffed peppers we did last week, and cherry tomatoes that we mixed with orzo the other day.  Perfect!

Another reason I don't often make salads is because I never have a good salad dressing.  If you know of a great ranch or blue cheese that tastes like you got it at a restaurant please let me know.  I decided to try to make a balsamic vinaigrette and it turned out excellent.

Salad Dressing
To make a whole bottle:
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp lemon juice (from the big plastic lemon is fine, but fresh is best)
** you can also just do 6 tbsp balsamic here
8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (then one more at the end if you taste it and it needs it)
1 large clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp honey
a good pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper

To make enough for two:
1 tbsp balsamic
1 tbsp lemon juice
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (then on more at the end if you taste it and it needs it)
1 tiny clove of garlic minced
a tiny drop of honey
a small pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper

**I hold off on adding the last tbsp of olive oil until the end, because people's tastes are different and you may or may not like yours to have a little more bite**