House Balsamic Vinaigrette

I have a confession to make. I generally hate salad. At least, I did, until I began to experiment with the classic sherry vinaigrette on page 56 in the French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Loomis. I discovered that I don't like sherry vinegar, and that I am a wimp about mustard, so I tweaked and tweaked until I came up with a recipe that I really did enjoy*. Now I like salad :) In fact, one of my absolute favorites is a simple salad of baby greens and grape tomatoes tossed with a little of this vinaigrette.

This recipe forms the base for all of my homemade salad dressings, with few exceptions. It's very easy, can be made by hand, in a blender, or in a food processor, and tastes infinitely better than bottled dressings. Homemade salad dressing seems so fancy (from this bumpkin's perspective, anyway), but really, they are the easiest thing in the world. Mine probably aren't cheaper than the store bought bottles of, say, Kraft, or whatever, but that's because I use quality--often organic--ingredients, not cheap soybean oil and vinegar.

A note for those worried about the amount of fat in this:
First of all, eat real food in moderation and enjoy life :)
Second, I dress an entire bowl of salad for my family with about 2 tablespoons of this, no joke. A serving size for any fat is 1 tablespoon, I believe. This dressing is flavorful and sticks well to salad leaves because it is a thick emulsion. It just takes a little while to get it gently tossed in the leaves. Also, I don't like very vinegary dressings. So if you want to add less fat, do it. I don't care. You'll probably end up needing way more salad dressing for the same amount of leaves.
Third, this the only salad dressing that my little two and a half year old always eats. Back when we ate dairy, he wouldn't even reliably eat ranch. It's also one of the only dressings that I like.

House Balsamic Vinaigrette
makes just over 3/4 cup
1/3 cup good quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
salt to taste
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup good quality olive oil

Mix everything but the oil in a small mixing bowl, food processor, or blender. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking or blending all the while, until the olive oil is fully incorporated, creating a thick emulsion.

*But it all came about because of that original recipe by Susan Loomis, so a big fat thanks to her!