Basic Italian and Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

Printable version

I was surprised by how easy and simple these vinaigrettes were to make. It seems I always have some sort of dressing tucked into the door of the fridge so I don’t think to make it from scratch. I’m glad I did though, both were made from stuff I always have around and were super easy, the only thing I didn’t have in my pantry were the fresh herbs.

I loved how light and fresh they tasted on the simple salads I dressed with them. This is just another example of the superiority homemade versus store-bought.

Further more, the better the extra virgin olive oil, the better these taste. It’s not a bad idea to have some of the good stuff hanging around to make a fresh vinaigrette if impressing guests is the goal or a lighter healthier salad dressing is sought.

BEHIND THIS BITE
When I decided I was going to make these I wanted to get a good bottle of extra virgin olive oil, so I went to the store specifically to get some.

I settled on a better-quality, higher-priced version than what I usually purchase. I got some other items I needed and proceeded to checkout. The groceries were bagged and I went on my way. I went and watched a ball game with my dad and then settled in at my computer around 11 p.m.

Basic Italian and Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

I got a message by e-mail from a friend’s mom who said I left a bag at the store. She was behind me in line and saw the checkout girl find the bag that was left behind and told her that she would contact me. Sure enough, the bag I left contained the $14 bottle of EVOO! It was to late to go back that night so I went back first thing in the morning.

When I got to the store I checked with customer service. The bottle was never turned in. There is a box for left behind items that the checkout workers put forgotten items and bags in. No such luck for me, I was out $14 and ended up having to purchase another bottle. I would have ordered some really great EVOO from some Italian distributor had I known I would end up throwing down a total of $28!

My guess is that the checkout girl did one of three things: Got lazy and left it at the checkout when she was done, put it back on the shelf or returned the item at her station before the end of the shift and kept the money. Either way, I lost on this one. Sometimes that's just the way it is.

On the bright side, these vinaigrettes were awesome!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPES
Makes 2 Cups each; 10 minutes
Italian vinaigrette
1 1/2 C Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 C White wine vinegar
1 Tbs Fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp Garlic, minced
1 tsp Dried oregano

Honey dijon vinaigrette
1 1/2 C Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 C White wine vinegar
1/4 C Dijon mustard
1/4 C Honey
2 tsp Chives, diced

Make vinaigrette
Mix all ingredients in a blender, sealed jar or in a bowl with a whisk until oil and vinegar have emulsified and mixture appears cloudy.

Zesty Italian Pizza

Printable version

This pizza features a yummy sauce that I recently discovered in Cuisine at Home magazine. It’s simple – just mix a little dijon mustard with some Italian dressing and that’s it. The spicy mustard with the herby dressing really goes well together and is something that I wish I would have thought of myself – but I have to give credit where credit is due.

I got the idea for the sauce from Cuisine at Home, but the concept of using it as a sauce for a gourmet pizza is mine. I decided to include fresh tomato as one of the toppings because the sauce isn’t tomato based. I also use my favorite vegetable combo on pizza – green pepper and onion. I consider them a pizza mirepoix because they add depth to the flavor of any pie. I choose ham as the protein for this pizza because of its mild flavor. Pepperoni or sausage would have competed with special sauce and I wanted that to be the star, the toppings are just compliments. Ham seemed to be the ideal choice for this concept.

In the end, this pizza rocked, and it tasted lite – almost like something you should make after harvesting from the garden. I highly recommend trying this sauce. Use it on a sandwich, wrap or pizza – whatever your fancy, it’s worth trying for sure.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I recently had an anonymous visitor leave me a couple of comments about my photography and food presentation here at behind the bites. The nameless reader said that the food looked cold, especially the pizzas. I have to agree with that assessment in some instances, it was a good critique.

The criticism didn’t end there though and the reader just got nasty. I didn’t publish the comments because the person who left them didn’t leave their name. I would have published them had the person taken credit for their words. I have experienced the “angry” reader before with years of experience in print journalism and the angrier they get, the better and more effective your work generally is.

It tickled me to finally get an angry reader here at the blog. It’s only natural with all the traffic to have someone insecure stop by and become totally threatened and therefore leave a nasty note. It was only a matter of time, and it let me know, in an ironic way, that my work is showing some promise.

I did heed my angry reader’s one good observation about the cold pizza though. The pie in the pictures for this post is hot out of the oven. I set up the shot while it was baking and worked fast to captured it while it was still gooey. I haven't reached the point as a food photographer that I'm doing things to the food that makes it look good for photos but makes it inedible. I may get there one day but for that I'm gonna need a bigger budget – I have to eat this stuff to afford doing it!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Make 2 12” pizzas; 30 minutes
1/2 C Italian Dressing
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 12” pizza crusts
1/2 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 C Ham, diced
1/2 C Green pepper, diced
1/2 C Tomato, diced
1/2 C Onion, diced
1/2 C Parmesan, shredded

Make sauce
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the dijon mustard and the Italian dressing until well incorporated.

Assemble and bake pizza
On pizza crust layer sauce, mozzarella, ham, green pepper, tomato, onion and Parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated 425° oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.