Summer-sun vinaigrette

“Hunger is the best sauce.” Socrates

Food should taste good. It just should. That’s what I keep telling our daughters when they’re tempted to eat things that come out of wrappers that crinkle. With the exception of chocolate and Combos, which are clearly God’s gift to the snack-food world, most food is at its best when it’s made somewhere other than a factory.

Case in point is sauce. There are some great bottled sauces on the market, true, but few can stand up to a homemade vinaigrette in terms of taste. None can stand up to homemade in terms of the presence of whole foods and the absence of preservatives, colorings and their kind.

Here is one of those home-kitchen sauces — the original version of which I found on the back of a package of quinoa from Aldi. It will make you smile.

Summer-Sun Vinaigrette

Combine 4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 Tablespoon honey, the juice of one small lemon, 1 finely minced garlic clove, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon dijon mustard. Let the mix sit at room temp while you’re prepping whatever it is you’re serving. When you’re ready, whisk the sauce mix with a fork until well combined and immediately apply.

This vinaigrette is yummy over quinoa, which can be kind of bland and gritty if not dressed in something oily. It is also wonderful over vegetables and salad. Other possibilities are as a marinade for grilling or as a pasta sauce. It’s not a great dipping sauce for bread as the ingredients rapidly separate out if they’re not coating something.

Now that I think about it, this is technically not a “vinaigrette” as I removed the vinegar from the original recipe and punched up the lemon juice. If you’re a name purist and like lots of tang, add a splash of cider vinegar. 🙂