Southwestern Vinaigrette

Years ago, I had a great salad at a friend’s house. What made the salad great wasn’t the salad ingredients but the unusual dressing. I say unusual not meaning weird but more like unexpected because I’d never tasted a dressing like it before. Basically, it’s a Mexi-inspired vinaigrette. The dressing gets bold flavor from the chili powder, a bit of heat from the cayenne, a slight sweetness from the honey, and a tang from the red wine vinegar. Yumm! It makes a great salad for a Mexican, Tex-Mex, or Southwestern-themed meals.

I believe the dressing recipe came from an older Mexican Williams-Sonoma cookbook but I’m not sure which one. When I make this vinaigrette, the salad I serve it with includes: mixed greens, tangerines, avocado, jicama, red or green onions, tomatoes, red bell pepper, olives. Other additions could be corn, black beans and cilantro. Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving so you don’t get wilted greens. Enjoy!

Southwestern Vinaigrette

-recipe from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook (I think)

Makes about 3/4 cup.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

1 1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

5 tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste

Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and toss with salad just before serving. Refrigerate leftover dressing.