Fresh and Flavorful!! Orange Citrus Vinaigrette Salad Dressing!!

Today I wanted to share with you this delicious, orange, citrus vinaigrette salad dressing that was used in our chicken and citrus super food salad that we shared a couple of days ago!  Vinaigrette dressing may be a foreign thing to some people and maybe you just never thought about making your own dressing.  I am here to tell you that this fancy sounding delight is not only easy, but you won't ever want to buy bottled dressing again!  

Basic vinaigrette starts with a simple ratio.  All you have to remember is this.  2 to 1, oil to vinegar.  I have used 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar and 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil.  From there it is up to you.  Yes, you can simply sprinkle some salt and pepper in there and be done.  However vinaigrette can be so much more.  With the proper building blocks you can go just about anywhere.  Every cuisine has their own version of this simple and delicious dressing.

Today we are going a bit more Mediterranean with our dressing.  We are adding the juice and zest of one small orange along with about a tablespoon each of honey and Dijon mustard.  We are seasoning the dressing with a good pinch of salt, cracked black pepper and dried tarragon.  This will give things a delicious herbaciousness that will amplify the flavor profile and stand up to the sturdy flavors in the salad I intend to use this on.  

Don't limit yourself to what I have shown here.  You can switch out the white wine vinegar for red wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar or balsamic.  You can switch up the olive oil for a more neutral oil like sunflower or safflower or even grapeseed oil or light sesame oil.  You can switch out the orange for a lemon, lime, grapefruit or if you are brave and daring, pick up a Buddha hand and squeeze that!  You can use bottled yuzu juice if you like or even the juice and zest of a pomello.  The possibilities are endless.  Make this dressing to suit your preferences and your likes.  Don't like tarragon?  Add basil, oregano, parsley, or a bit of Italian seasoning or Herbes De Provence.  You can add salt and pepper to taste.  You can change the sweetener.  I used honey, but you can use regular sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar, molasses, maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup or, no sweetener at all. I find that the dressing needs a bit of sweet to offset the bold acid nature it has, but you be the creator of your dressing.  Just be sure to taste as you go to be sure it is what you like.

I hope you give this simple and delicious orange citrus vinaigrette dressing a try and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

A printable version of this recipe is available here: http://bit.ly/2iuvBfo

You can see how I made this in my YouTube video here:  

Noreen's Kitchen

Orange Citrus Vinaigrette

Ingredients

½ cup white wine vinegar 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard ¼ cup fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon fresh orange zest ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper 1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Step by Step Instructions

Place all ingredients into a pint jar.  Place the lid on the jar and shake well.

Any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. 

This dressing is great on salad or as a marinade for meat or as a dip for crusty bread as an appetizer. 

Start the Year Off Right! Citrus Chicken Super Food Salad!!

Today we are using up the very last little bit of shredded chicken from the two we roasted and making a super healthy, citrus chicken super food salad! I am inspired by Elaine's "big salad" a la Seinfeld but wanted to take a super healthy beginning of the new year, healthy goals approach here. 

This salad starts with some chopped, fresh kale and baby spinach, blended together along with a healthy handful of matchstick carrots. I usually put out all the goodies and have everyone make their own salad. That way everyone gets what they like. I prefer a little bit of everything and a tasty dressing!

I added some of the shredded chicken. I have about 1 1/2 cups left which may not seem like a lot, but it is the perfect amount for the four of us to have a great, healthy dinner salad with super boosted nutrition! 

I made up my salad using the greens and chicken along with some cooked and cooled quinoa, baby yellow, orange and red bell peppers which are filled with great vitamins, mineral and antioxidants. Then added some grape tomatoes and a healthy portion of grapefruit and orange segments. I used a canned citrus salad, packed in juice, with no added sugar, that I like to keep in my pantry. If you live where you can get citrus free or cheap, then I think that would be great! Oranges in my area, right now are almost $1 each! Horrifying! 

I added a handful of dried, organic, unsweetened cranberries for a sweet note along with a healthy sprinkling of seeds. A mixture of chia, hemp and sunflower. You can also add some walnuts or pecans or toasted almonds as well if you prefer or in addition to the seeds. 

I topped the whole thing off with a drizzle of a delicious orange citrus vinaigrette that I made and will share in an upcoming video! If you would like to see how to make the quinoa, let me know and I will be happy to share! 

This salad is the perfect light meal. It really is filling with the cooked grains and all the hearty greens. Using the rainbow as your guide for adding veggies and fruits really makes for a colorful, delicious and nutritious salad that everyone will love! If you don't like quinoa, you can always cook up some wheat berries which would also be great in this salad!

I hope that you give this citrus chicken, super food salad a try and I hope you love it! I also hope you love seeing how many delicious things we can make with just a couple of roasted chickens! Next up is using the bones to make some soup and stock for dinner and I can't wait to share that with you soon!

Happy Eating!