My friend Becky gave me this vinaigrette recipe - I tried it, and it was delicious! I love vinaigrette dressing for salad, they are light and tasty. She got the recipe from “America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.”

Basic Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup
Prep Time 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons vinegar (I usually use basalmic, but the recipe calls for red or white wine vinegar)
• 2 teaspoons minced shallot or red onion (sometimes I’ll even use a bit of a mild yellow onion instead)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, basil, tarragon, parsely, rosemary or a combination, also you can use about 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, rosemary or oregano)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Shake all of the ingredients together in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 7 days. When you want to use the dressing, remove from the refrigerator a couple hours ahead of time and bring to room temperature, then shake vigorously to recombine before using. If you are going to use the dressing in a few days you can just leave it out.