Tomato Vinaigrette

I love salads.
What I don't like is salad smothered in bottled salad dressing.  The extra two or three minutes it takes to prepare a vinaigrette is definitely worth the effort.

I found this recipe in Canadian Living magazine.  (Canadian Living recipes have never let me down so I always go there first for inspiration.) I wanted something tasty to put on a bean salad.



The bean salad was simple: a can of mixed beans plus grated carrot, chopped celery, red and green peppers, green onions and green beans.  I poured this over the top and served it with quinoa.  It was delish.

The recipe called for bottled strained tomatoes (passata). This is  just a fancy name for  tomato puree.  Tomato sauce has lots of additives and tomato paste is too thick, so I used a can of tomatoes and pureed it with my immersion mixer.

(You can freeze leftover tomato sauce, puree or paste if you don't use it all.)

I make big batches of quinoa and freeze it in sandwich bags so I always have some on hand.  I also do this with rice, kamut, wheat berries and spelt so there's a variety on hand to add to salads or warm up in the microwave.

Anyways, here's my version of the tomato vinaigrette.

Tomato Vinaigrette

1/3 cup    pureed tomatoes
3    tbsp   red wine vinegar
3    tbsp   olive oil
2    tbsp   liquid honey
1/2 tsp     italian herbs or herbs de provence or oregano
salt - if you use it - I don't
dash of pepper

Whisk together all the ingredients and pour over salad.


bean salad photo credit