Today's super-easy salad dressing recipe, perfect for fall salads: A no-fat vinaigrette made with no more than apple cider, cider vinegar, agave (or honey) and spiked with cinnamon. Use Apple Cider Vinaigrette on its own or whisk it with a little olive oil for a more traditional oli & vinegar vinaigrette, except apple-y!
Fresh & Seasonal, A Fall Classic. Great for Meal Prep. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free.
Skip Straight to the Recipe
Good Habits Are Hard to Break
When it comes to food, we're all creatures of habit in our own ways. My way, these days, is to experiment with one new salad dressing recipe after another – this after years of making the same two salad dressings again and again and again. Granted, both those go-to dressings are concept recipes, so no night's salad was ever the same as the last. Still. How about switching things up a little, Alanna?
Enter Apple Cider Vinaigrette. It's so perfect for fall, just as autumn's apples and apple cider are beginning to reach the markets. (Peaches? So last summer albeit just a couple of weeks back.)
And Apple Cider Vinaigrette is so simple to make! Plus, if you're looking for a guilt-free dressing, this is it. There's no oil (although for anyone who likes, it's quite lovely whisked with a little good olive oil, too) and it's sweetened with agave, the plant-based low-glycemic sweetener especially appreciated by vegans (who don't eat honey), carb watchers and diabetics.
A Meal Prep Favorite
I first made Apple Cider Vinaigrette way back in 2008. But every year since, I make a batch (or two or three) every fall. It keeps for several weeks! One year, we had a surplus of apple cider so I kept a jar of Apple Cider Vinaigrette in the fridge all winter long. For a quick lunch or supper salad, I also took to whisking in a tablespoon of good olive oil into three or four tablespoons Apple Cider Vinaigrette. It practically pops, like fall acorns falling on pavement!
A Salad Dressing Challenge!
Life's too short (and expensive and calorie-laden) for bottles of store-bought salad dressing. Will you accept the challenge? Never Buy Salad Dressing Again!
APPLE CIDER VINAIGRETTE
Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 24 hours
Makes 1-1/2 cups
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup agave (or honey, if you prefer)
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Mix all ingredients, stirring until the agave liquifies. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, letting the cinnamon flavors infuse into the cider and agave. Keeps several weeks.
To serve, sprinkle as is over salad greens – or whisk 3 or 4 tablespoons with a tablespoon of olive oil and then toss with greens.
TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION Adapted from a recipe developed by the Canyon Ranch Spa for Epicurious
NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Tablespoon (as is): 15 Calories; 0g Tot Fat; 9g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 47mg Sodium; 4g Carb; 0g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 0g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS: WW Old Points 0 & PointsPlus 0 & SmartPoints 1 & Freestyle 1
Still Hungry?
NEVER MISS A RECIPE!
For "home delivery" of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here.
Once you do, new recipes will be automatically delivered straight to your e-mail In Box.
MORE FAVORITE SALAD DRESSING RECIPES
~ Buttermilk Garlic Salad Dressing ~
~ Homemade Thousand Island Dressing ~
~ German Salad Dressing ~
~ more salad dressing recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture
~ My Everyday Creamy Herb Salad Dressing ~
~ Orange & Cumin Vinaigrette ~
~ Homemade Low-Cal & Low-Carb Blue Cheese Salad Dressing ~
~ more salad dressing recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column
SEASONAL EATING: Very Late Summer & Early Fall Across the Years
Slow-Roasted Tomatoes (< an annual obsession) Pasta with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes Broccoli with Orange & Curry Cauliflower Tomato Medley Eggplant Parmigiana Mini Tomato Pesto Torte Potato Okra Curry (< hello, Meatless Monday) Slow-Roasted Tomato Salsa “Surprise Inside” Spice Parsnip Cupcakes Steamed Butternut Squash in a Collapsible Steamer Basket Foodie Fight (Slooow) Baked Potatoes (< this week's favorite!) Balkan Eggplant Casserole Apple Cider Vinaigrette (< my fav make-ahead salad dressing) Rosemary Potatoes Calabacitas (< great with garden zucchini!) Beet Salad with Sumac, Yogurt & Pita Pennsylvania Dutch Green Beans with Bacon Tomato Recipes – Alphabet of Vegetables Slow Cooker Beans & Tomatoes Slow Cooker Tomato Grits Mexican Cauliflower "Rice" (< great for meal prep!)
Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2008, 2014, 2015 (repub) & 2019
