Crunchologie: Salad Dressing

This is by far my favorite salad dressing. It’s simple, elegant, delicious and fast. How can you beat that?! Another thing I love about it is the versatility. By changing one ingredient, you have a completely different salad dressing. For example: sometimes I will add a fig balsamic vinegar and then use the dressing for a salad with fruit mixed in. OR I will add a spicy mustard to kick it up a notch (like I did in the photos below) and serve with a classic green salad. You can’t mess this up.

My favorite “mess up” memory of this dressing is when we went to see my precious grandfather in law. It was only the second time I had gone to see him. We went to gorgeous Napa to introduce our boy to him. Of course, I wanted to help cook a meal while we were there - because food is truly my love language. We had brown sugar salmon, sourdough bread with butter and salad. Naturally, I made this dressing for the salad. I thought I was going to have to use sugar to sweeten it, when I discovered a bottle of pure maple syrup in the pantry! I was so excited as I poured it into the dressing. I stirred it up and then dipped my finger in to taste it. Only to discover the taste of...cinnamon. WHAT?! I double-checked the syrup bottle. Yep. Cinnamon flavored syrup. How did I miss that?

The good news was: it didn’t matter. The dressing was still delicious. I don’t necessarily recommend cinnamon flavored syrup but if you accidentally add it – don’t stress.

It’s really a blank canvas that’s yours to paint. Be creative! Let those cooking skills shine.

This recipe is 5 simple ingredients:

½ cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Mustard - all the Braswell mustards are amazing

1-2 tbsp Sour cream (or greek yogurt)

1 tbsp Maple Syrup (I use grade B to get more minerals)

Combine all ingredients in these awesome prep bowls (I love using these - you can throw on a lid and keep it in the fridge) and drizzle over your favorite salad. Too tangy? Add a little more sour cream. Too mustard-y? Add a little more syrup to balance it. Adjust to your personal taste and enjoy!