I have been on one heck of a salad kick lately and I  seriously can’t get enough of them. If you are new to my blog I decided to change my eating habits drastically at the beginning of this year for a few reasons but mainly overall health. I decided to take on a more holistic type approach or (real food diet) by eliminating as much processed and prepackaged food as possible in our  home (my previous post explains it in more detail.) So by cutting out prepackaged and processed foods that also means cutting out store bought salad dressings. Take a peek at the ingredient list on the back of a bottle some can be a mile long. I’ll confess I still have them in my pantry but they are only there in case of an “emergency”…… Since I started making my own dressings I realized how SIMPLE they are and how much more fresh they taste. This recipe is one I have been using quite frequently and I have really become addicted to it. It’s a citrus based vinaigrette & I chose to use clementines (mandarin oranges) as the citrus flavor. If you don not have something close to an orange or a clementine i’d say go with a lemon. (I have not tried a lime based one…..Yet.) This dressing is AMAZING  especially on a green salad that has avocados in it. The flavors of  the citrus and the avocado really go prefect together and I’m sure you’ll agree if you try it out. In the near future I hope to  be posting more dressings as I make them but I think experimenting is half the fun This particular recipe is how I make the dressing to suit my own personal taste and since everyone is different you may have to adjust it to suit your own. Enjoy!

¼ cup honey ( I used pure maple syrup for mine)

¼ cup Clementine juice, freshly squeezed

1 small shallot, minced

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

½ c of Avocado Oil or Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¾ TSP kosher salt

1/8 TSP freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey (or maple syrup), juice, shallot, garlic and mustard. Whisk in the oil in a slow stream to emulsify – until the dressing becomes thick. Season with salt and pepper (if needed, add more to taste).Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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