Strawberry Vinaigrette

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

I’ve tried some strawberry vinaigrette recipes with sour cream and yogurt and didn’t like them. So I went back to my old faithful of a maple herb vinaigrette.  Use honey if you don’t have maple syrup. Strawberry jam sweetens and helps intensify the strawberry flavor. You MUST use sweet ripe strawberries or you’re wasting your time and money. It’s not sticky sweet. A girlfriend that doesn’t like sweet loved it. My husband thinks a salad isn’t complete without feta cheese and cashews. 

The following was filmed and edited by us at home. It aired on ABC-TV on June 3, 2020.

Gluten-Free Strawberry Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp lemon juice, or white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.  Please make sure vinegars say made from wine or grapes, apples or cider. 
• 1 tsp gf honey mustard or regular Dijon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp strawberry jam – I’ve used Bonne Maman or Trappist jams
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey or 2 tbsp jam. 
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley 
• green of the stalk of one green onion – none of the white end.
• 4 med to large ripe strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
• 1/4 c light tasting oil. Extra virgin olive oil overpowers the flavor. I tend to use 3 tbsp avocado oil and 1 tbsp evo. I never use canola oil.

Directions:

1. Put everything in a 2 cup jug and blend it with an immersion blender, or a liquidizer. If you don’t have either, mash the strawberries really well with the rest of the ingredients. 
2. Cover and leave for at least an hour for the flavors to meld. Taste then and adjust salt, sugar, vinegar to your taste.  But remember a dressing tasted on its own on a spoon or fork tastes very different from a dressing on a salad with other fruit, veggies and cheese. So stir dressing and dip a lettuce leaf in to taste after dressing’s sat for a while.

I like fresh crisp lettuce, some more sliced strawberries, some chopped celery or Gala apple for crunch, and some feta cheese.  I’ve tried it with Brie but it didn’t taste right. Add cooked chicken, shrimp, tuna for more protein. Spinach leaves. Try making it with fresh raspberries, peaches, mango and appropriate jam.