mmmmm....salad

Who doesn't love a good salad with dressing!?!?!  We all do & of course we all know how bad "pre made" stuff can be, too much sugar, too much sodium, yada yada yada......I really do enjoy making my own dressings, but don't get me wrong, I don't mind having dressing out of the bottle either!  The dressing that I made below is super easy to make & most ingredients you probably already have on hand.  I'm also including a fruit salad that I've made on several occasions.  I like to make it for parties or on a Monday & then have it for lunch on Tuesday & Wednesday, it keeps well for a couple of days.

Honey Mustard Dressing (my version)

Ingredients

1 clove of garlic (cut in 1/2)

2 tsp. Whole Grain Mustard

1 tblsp. balsamic vinegar (the one I used is flavored, but you can you use whatever you have on hand)

2 tsp. honey

2 splashes of low sodium soy sauce

salt & pepper to taste

almost 3 tblsp. of EVOO (if you put too much, you can always add a little more mustard, or honey, or balsamic, that's the beauty of making your own dressing, highlight the flavors you want more of!)

**this makes about 3-4 servings of dressing

*In a bowl rub the inside of the bowl with your garlic cloves.  This is just to infuse the flavor, it's not overpowering, but you'll stop & be like....hmmmmm.....is that garlic, without having to worry about whether or not Edward Cullen will be scared of you!  You can tell that you've "juiced" the garlic once it becomes harder to move it around the bowl.  Do this with both of your garlic clove halves.  

*Add your mustard, honey, balsamic & soy sauce & whisk away!  About 10-20 seconds.  You just want to make sure everything gets combined & is happy!

*Taste & season with salt & pepper to your liking.  I love pepper so I add more  :)

*Drizzle in EVOO & whisk quickly as you do this, you want to make sure everything gets combined.  That's it, this dressing goes well over darker greens.  I'm going to enjoy mine over a spinach mix, yum!

A Berry Happy Fruit Salad

Ingredients

Strawberries (Halved); I used about 1/2 a lb, the rest I'll be enjoying in my spinach salad w/ my dressing

Blackberries (Whole); I used about 3/4 of this carton that you see below, again, the rest will be in my salad

Raspberries (Whole); I used the whole carton 

1 Banana sliced; not too thin

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 tsp. of sugar

**this makes about 4-5 servings

*Halve your strawberries & place in a colander with the rest of your berries

*Rinse well

*Slice your banana while you let the berries drain, then add the berries & bananas to a large bowl

*Squeeze in one 1/2 of the lemon & add the teaspoon of sugar

*Lightly mix & toss together your salad.  The raspberries are kinda sensitive, so don't go crazy mixing stuff around.  Taste a berry, if you like the taste (not too sweet), you don't need more lemon juice.  If you want it to be a little more tart, then squeeze in the other half

*The finished product should be refrigerated for about an hour & you'll find that your fruit juices, lemon, & sugar have made a super yummy natural syrup!  yay!!  Enjoy!  I've had this over ice cream, waffles & even over salad (minus the bananas), mmmmmmmmmmm.....