1/2 cup high quality olive oil or grape seed oil if you prefer a milder flavor
Approx 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (high quality)
1 teaspoon agave, or honey
1 tea Dijon mustard
1 TBSP minced onion or shallot
2 cloves garlic, minced
Optional: 2 to 3 teaspoons (total) fresh minced herb if you have basil, tarragon or thyme in the garden
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Combine everything in a mixing bowl and stir well. An option for those of you that would like to try it is to “reduce” the balsamic vinegar. You can do this if you find the original recipe a tad too zingy. A balsamic “reduction” means you will start with twice as much vinegar (so 1/2 cup for this recipe), and you gently simmer it until you have 1/4 cup left. This just means you’re evaporating the water, and the concentrated vinegar has more sugar, relatively speaking, and it cuts down on the overall vinegar zing of the recipe. I don’t personally do this, but you should know that you can, and how it might affect your recipe. Another adaptation of this recipe is to leave out the Dijon mustard entirely. Experiment with this recipe, perhaps you want to increase the amount of the vinegar so that the ratio of oil to vinegary is 1:1, so you can add 1/2 cup vinegar to the 1/2 cup of oil. This will of course, make it more of a sharper tasting vinaigrette.
Suzy Cohen, RPh, has been a licensed pharmacist for over 30 years, blending conventional medicine with natural approaches to help people feel better and live healthier. She is the founder of Script Essentials, a supplement company known for targeted, custom-formulated products, some with patented innovations.
With a special focus on thyroid health, functional medicine, and drug-induced nutrient depletion (what she calls “drug muggers”), Suzy is the author of several books including Thyroid Healthy, Drug Muggers, and Diabetes Without Drugs. She also writes a nationally syndicated health column and shares practical, easy-to-understand guidance with readers around the world.
