The sun came out this morning, bringing with it deep blue skies and promise of better weather to come. As cliche as it sounds, it was a sight for sore eyes …  Really, all I can think is thank goodness. The New England winter bought so much snow this year, and ice too. And the past few days have been an almost-unending rainstorm. The gusts of wind lately have also seemed extraordinarily strong. Yesterday, the windows in our little house rattled with the force as I sat here working and writing … not exactly relaxing weather.

Every time it’s beautiful out, like today, I start dreaming about our gardens to come. My friends and family have asked again and again what we plan to grow in our raised garden beds this summer. My answer is still a little vague, but there are some certainties: tomatoes (yes, despite the late blight of last summer, I will grow them this year), sweet peppers and beans. These are the things that we love and use a lot. Of course, there will be herbs too — lots of them. If we have room, we’ll try pickling cucumbers, something that Will would love.

Our yard is also home to a few berry bushes and some strawberries that we hope will produce this year. There is mint in an alcove as well. Will wants to grow pumpkins again this year, and watermelons too (oh, I cringe thinking about how they will undoubtedly stretch their curly tendrils clear across the yard … but it’s so worth it).

While I look ahead to spring, we are still in winter mode … it’s chilly outside – weather that still requires coats. But inside, we can claim little bits of spring here and there: dreams of gardens, plans for outdoor play and fresh salads coated with homemade dressing …

We eat salads all year round, but crisp, cool salads are a special treat during warm months. On warm days, there is nothing better than digging into a big salad with homemade dressing, crisp croutons and vegetables galore.

This Caesar Salad Dressing is egg-free (honestly, I am a little squeamish about the usage of raw eggs) and pairs perfectly with crisp, vibrantly green romaine, fresh shredded Parmesan and Homemade Croutons. When friends came to visit this past weekend, I served Caesar Salad with this homemade dressing with a spinach lasagna. Last night, we ate it again alongside Chicken Souvlaki and Cream Biscuits. It worked equally well both times.

We all love this dressing. It’s flavorful and pleasant, without any overabundance of acidity. Just perfect … we think.

Caesar Salad Dressing
dresses about three family-sized salads

juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 anchovy fillets
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients and process until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For best results, make this at least one hour before you want to use it. This can be stored for up to five days in the refrigerator.

This morning’s snow was a complete surprise to me. I think I had just about married myself to the idea that even though it’s January still, that the harsh temperatures and need to shovel was behind us. It so totally is not.

Regardless of what season I am in, some days I like to eat lightly. Today was one of those days.

But then, it really doesn’t matter what time of year it is or what the weather is … I love salads all the time. Sometimes, I go for bold toppings — glazed nuts, homemade croutons, roasted tomatoes. Sometimes, I want my dressing to be the star with a bold, aged balsamic vinegar. But other times, I just want simple, easy, light.

This dressing is great for the days where you just want something simple. Although it’s built around the sweet juice of a Honeybell orange, it’s not overly sweet. It does have unmistakable orange notes though. It’s a subtle dressing, one that tastes great without overpowering anything. It doesn’t mind if it’s paired with other ingredients that want to shine too.

And really, it’s a dressing perfect for a simple salad like this one: Romaine hearts, gorgonzola cheese and sunflower seeds. And really … it doesn’t need anything else.

Honeybell Orange Rosemary Vinaigrette

1 Honeybell orange, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp dried mustard

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk together. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

A few weeks ago, I started thinking of fall flavors (seriously, when did seasons become flavors to me?). Apples, pumpkins, squash, Brussels sprouts … I started to scheme about how I could use them to create new dishes.

The first thing that came to mind: Apple Cider Vinaigrette.

Not a dressing that just uses apple cider vinegar, though: One that uses actual apple cider to create a sweet, tangy lettuce-coating dressing. Something that could bridge the light foods of summer with the bone-warming foods of winter. Could cider in a dressing even work?

I’ve been working on this recipe ever since, trying to get it just right. And guess what? I did. It’s earthy and lightly sweet, with that tinge of tang I wanted. Even Shawn, who isn’t a vinaigrette fan at all, liked it a lot.

As for the salad above? It’s romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size bits with half a Haas avocado sliced, about eight medium shrimp that were just steamed, two slices of pancetta fried until crisp and about an ounce of Danish blue cheese. Yum.

Next time though, I would choose a lettuce with a less aggressive taste like a Boston Bibb. I think that would make this salad — and dressing — absolutely perfect.

P.S. The cute bottle? It’s a glass flask from The Container Store. I bought it on a recent trip into New York and absolutely love it for dressings like this. It stores in the fridge well and is absolutely airtight. I use a small funnel to help ease the dressing in without spilling. Both are awesome to have in your cupboard if you love to make your own dressing.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

1/3 cup apple cider
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk all of the ingredients together. Transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to one week.

There is a fantastic little store not far from here that sells balsamic vinegar from a drum with a spigot. When I saw the drum, I thought that couldn’t possibly be where this delectable balsamic comes from, but it was. Just one of those funny things.

Anyway, this balsamic vinegar is unlike any other I’ve had. It’s sweet, with highlights of tanginess, but without the tongue curling burn of most vinegars. It’s so good, I could drink it. Maybe. The store is called Villarina’s and it’s part of a small franchise chain in the New York metro area (all the stores are independently owned).

This orgasmic balsamic vinegar was the driving force that convinced me to give balsamic vinegar another try. For years, I avoided it and turned my nose up at the mere mention of it. But this changed it all . . .

I’ve mentioned before that I prefer a mix of oil and vinegar and homemade dressings to bottled dressings. I like the control you can have over ingredients, flavors, layers. It works for me. And while my basil vinaigrette is my fav new dressing of this summer, this honey balsamic that I made recently is really good too.

Especially if you use good vinegar.

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette
yields 3/4 cup
recipe adapted from Southern Living

1/2  cup  olive oil
1/4  cup  good balsamic vinegar
1  tablespoon  honey
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

“What’s in this? This is interesting.”

That was my husband’s reaction when he tasted the salad tonight. It was a simple mix of baby greens (one bag for $1 at the farmers market today — just enough for one dinner) and a homemade basil vinaigrette. I skipped the cheese and ignored the croutons and just did an ultrasimple salad. And it worked, or I thought it did.

Of course, upon hearing interesting, my mind raced to all sorts of unfavorable places, as minds are wont to do. Did that mean it was simply vile? Gross? Missing some key component? Did my mix of sweet and savory with a hearty dose of basil just spell major F-A-I-L? Would I be totally screwed on my plan of blogging this dressing tonight?

I pretty much had declared culinary disaster in my head. Words like interesting, unusual, different … they will all do that to me. They don’t exactly speak volumes about greatness. Sorry, but I would much rather be told something is amazing.

Fortunately, he went on to tell me that it was “very basil-y, which is good” and had a slight bit of sweetness (yes, it does), which was good too. The flavor is light, but brimming with the sunny freshness of basil. The vinegar and garlic complement the flavors, lending tang and a touch of bite to the dressing. For me, I could totally imagine eating a salad with this basil vinaigrette while digging my toes into warm sand at the beach. It just has summer written all over it.

Turns out, for my husband, that actually wasn’t a bad interesting — he liked it too. Can there be good interesting? I guess so. But he also had one request: next time, don’t skip the homemade croutons and sprinkling of cheese.

I suppose that isn’t too much to ask.

Basil Vinaigrette

This recipe makes enough to dress at least two family-sized salads.

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp honey
salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine the basil, garlic, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and process until everything is mixed up and chopped into tiny bits. While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture and process until emulsified.

Use this to dress a salad immediately, or transfer to an air-tight container and keep in the fridge for up to a week.

More Homemade Salad Dressing Ideas:

• Blue Cheese Dressing
• Mustard Vinaigrette @ Reluctant Gourmet
• Basic Vinaigrette @ Bitten
• Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette @ FitSugar

What held me up for the past year was the idea of the red flesh. It’s unfamiliar. I don’t remember deciding between blood oranges and navels when my grandmother and I used to grocery shop. Certainly not. Those decisions were left for types of grapes and apples. And somehow, a purple cauliflower was less daunting than the bloody flesh of this orange. Perhaps I am a bit of a creature of habit at heart . . .

So what to do with my blood oranges? I toyed with the idea of just eating them. I considered peeling them and separating into slices for a salad. Then it dawned on me: a blood orange vinaigrette.

I did a little internet exploring and found a recipe that sounded easy, but yum. Not long after, I set to work. I have to say, juicing a blood orange is a gruesome task. (And why do I juice by hand when I have a great juicer? Because I was only doing one orange – it’s a waste of clean-up time to use the big one for this!)

Anyway, I made the dressing, making a tiny alteration of lowering the amount of sugar and the amount of oil. It’s definitely not the prettiest dressing ever, but it’s different.

Unfortunately, when it came time to try this version of a blood orange dressing, it was too mild and dare I say bland. It’s definitely missing something. And I think the oil vinegar ratio is off, even with my lowered oil content. So the verdict? You don’t get the recipe yet. I am still working on developing it. Perhaps some minced shallots, blood orange zest, and a dash of lime juice will do the trick.
Recipe to come. When it meets my expectations.

What held me up for the past year was the idea of the red flesh. It’s unfamiliar. I don’t remember deciding between blood oranges and navels when my grandmother and I used to grocery shop. Certainly not. Those decisions were left for types of grapes and apples. And somehow, a purple cauliflower was less daunting than the bloody flesh of this orange. Perhaps I am a bit of a creature of habit at heart . . .

So what to do with my blood oranges? I toyed with the idea of just eating them. I considered peeling them and separating into slices for a salad. Then it dawned on me: a blood orange vinaigrette.

I did a little internet exploring and found a recipe that sounded easy, but yum. Not long after, I set to work. I have to say, juicing a blood orange is a gruesome task. (And why do I juice by hand when I have a great juicer? Because I was only doing one orange – it’s a waste of clean-up time to use the big one for this!)

Anyway, I made the dressing, making a tiny alteration of lowering the amount of sugar and the amount of oil. It’s definitely not the prettiest dressing ever, but it’s different.

Unfortunately, when it came time to try this version of a blood orange dressing, it was too mild and dare I say bland. It’s definitely missing something. And I think the oil vinegar ratio is off, even with my lowered oil content. So the verdict? You don’t get the recipe yet. I am still working on developing it. Perhaps some minced shallots, blood orange zest, and a dash of lime juice will do the trick.
Recipe to come. When it meets my expectations.