Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette

In my effort to get my family to eat healthier, veggie-filled meals, this evening's offering will include a Greek salad with some homemade dressing.

Greek salad dressings always sort of elude me.  They either end up tasting like every other Italian dressing I've ever made or some generic vinaigrette with no nationality to speak of or they end up way too far on the oregano/garlic overrun end of things.

Today, though?  I jimmied together a recipe that I am liking a lot.

So much so, that I thought I'd share it with all of you for your salad enjoyment as well.

I found the original at For the Love Of Cooking.  And when I made the recipe as it was, it was okay -- but it didn't quite have what I wanted in terms of in your face dressing taste.  I like my dressing to have a little bite to it.

And then it hit me:  add a little Dijon mustard and a bit of lemon zest, too, and see where that takes me.  Oh man, did it ever take this dressing to new heights.  The combo of fresh lemon juice, garlic, a little oregano, Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar with a freshly opened bottle of extra virgin olive oil?  Delish!

So here's my revised version:


Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette

6 Tbsp. EVOO
Juice of one whole lemon
1/4 tsp. lemon zest, minced fine
1 clove garlic, minced fine

2 tsp. red wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (and when I say to taste, I mean really taste it along the way -- I ended up adding a lot more sea salt than I expected to counter-balance the acidity of the lemon and vinegar, and the couple extra pinches of salt made a HUGE difference in the flavor for me)
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. dried oregano

Whisk all ingredients together to emulsify the dressing and fully blend flavors.  Or put everything in a jar with a tight lid and do the mambo around the kitchen to shake it up really well.  (That's what I did.   I had a blast.  Can you tell?  And as an added bonus, I freaked out our westie who thought I had gone nutso far too near her treats.)

I've let the dressing sit for an hour or so to further allow the flavors to meld and it is seriously tasty.  Can't wait to try it on a Greek salad this evening made with chopped Romaine lettuce, diced cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped kalamata olives, chunks of feta, some thinly sliced red onion, and some rotisserie chicken that has also been chopped up into bite-sized pieces.  We'll be having some hummus, assorted crudite veggies (celery, carrots and cucumber, most likely) and a few pita chips.

How's that for healthy?

(Photo via The Gouger.)