Wednesday, October 17, 2007

POMEGRANATE-RASPBERRY BALSAMIC SALAD DRESSING


When we lived in Long Valley, New Jersey, we had a huge vegetable garden. I mean really huge. We even grew our own corn. There is just nothing like fresh organic vegetables from your own garden. Now that we are in North Carolina, in a development where the homes are close together and governed by covenants and restrictions, we couldn't have a vegetable garden even if we could grow anything in the hot Carolina sun and swampy ground. So this year, we decided to try container gardening. And it's been working. This is our second batch of lettuce (top photo). When the summer arrived, the lettuce burned up. But now it's a bit cooler and it's growing again. Seed packets are cheap at Wal-Mart, about $1.00 for a pack of lettuce seeds that will last for several sowings. It comes up fast and you're eating it about 4 weeks after you plant it. Not bad, huh? The bottom photo is radishes. So now that I have the makings of a salad, I want to share a salad dressing with you that I made up. I really like it and it's very quick and easy.
(P. S. Here's a news flash! There is a new product out -- just saw it today at our local Harris Teeter. Regina, the people who make the Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar, now make Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar. I won't be buying it for a while because I just stocked up on the Raspberry. It's on sale, and now I know why. Oh well, it's really, really good.)

Pomegranate-Raspberry Balsamic Salad Dressing
INGREDIENTS: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I like Carapelli's)
1/4 cup Raspberry Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup Pomegranate juice (you can use the combos--blueberry/pomegranate,pomegranate/cherry, etc., just be sure you get real juice, no sugar added)
1/2 tsp. sea salt (it has minerals)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. mustard powder (optional)

DIRECTIONS: Combine all ingredients in small bowl or jar with lid. Whisk or shake till mixed. Spoon or drizzle over greens.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You wouldn't think we would need to container garden living in CA with a big back yard, but we have gophers and they love salad greens. So I always plant some greens in containers as well as the garden just to be sure we get to eat some ourselves! Yours look great - my most recent ones are only about an inch high, so I'll wait a bit to try this yummy-looking dressing.