So this “cooking” thing is actually starting to pay off, financially anyway. For once, I actually had almost *all* of the ingredients on hand to make this tasty homemade balsamic honey vinaigrette salad dressing. I only needed to buy a few shallots (at a total cost of only forty-two cents). Compare that to the $3.50+ I would have spent on my favorite Marie’s brand dressing! This recipe is just as good, if not *better*, than Marie’s. And all you need is a blender!

Tonight I am simply tossing this dressing with romain lettuce, dried cranberries, and some crumbly blue cheese, but I know it will do double-duty as a nice salmon glaze and as a tangy drizzle on tomorrow’s fresh caprese salad, so I made some extra.

Start by sauteing three finely chopped shallots and three minced garlic cloves. Set the saute pan aside to cool while you prepare the blender. In the blender, add 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, salt and fresh ground pepper, and a 1/4 cup of honey. Add the cooled sauted shallots and garlic last.

Add a cup of olive oil to a measuring cup. Blend the previous ingredients while slowly adding the olive oil in a slow and steady stream. The idea is to slowly blend these two seemingly unblendable liquids (oil/water) in a process called emulsification. It might separate later, but not to worry…just shake it up.

The result is a delicious, thick-but-pourable, tangy-sweet brown dressing. You might want to add more honey or balsamic vinaigrette depending on your taste. I’ve provided a photograph (above) just to show the texture, thickness, and the color of the version that I just made.

The cool and creamy combination of chilled mango and avocado paired with fragrant basil, watercress and a nutty almond sauce makes this appetizer a fresh and healthy Summer treat.

Just slice the mango and avocado into thin strips, add three basil leaves per roll with a bunch of watercress and roll it up. The sticky rice wrappers seals itself. I cut both ends with a sharp knife to make it look nice and presentable. Handling the wet rice-paper wrappers does take some practice and I flubbed the first few attempts. Don’t get discouraged, it gets easier! Luckily, the package I bought came with about thirty wrappers so I had plenty to experiment with.

The almond sauce was way better than the salty peanut sauce that you usually get in Chinese restaurants and it was easy to make. It would be great tossed with cold noodles, too.

To make the sauce, simply whisk together 2 tablespoons of almond butter, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, 1 teaspoon of low sodium soy sauce, and a splash of mushroom flavored soy sauce.

Simple, delicious, and nutritious. Made with vegetable stock, lentils, spinach, garlic, sliced onions, and finely chopped celery. Add just a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for some heat and you’re good to go in under an hour.