A honey vinaigrette for a Fancy.Dinner.Party.

     Oh gosh, I'm getting behind again.
It's not that I haven't been in the kitchen lately, as in other weeks...it's that, frankly, I've been a bit lazy about posting.  But I've got about 4 recipes I need to get up & posted, so I'm going to try & crack down a bit tonight, especially because I'm planning to try out at LEAST 3-5 more this week. School starts the Monday after this for me, and I won't have as much time to fool around then--there will be a lot of casseroles & quiches starting soon I'm guessing; the sort of thing you can make in large quantities and then eat for the rest of the week when you're too on-the-go to make anything else.

     So, here's to one last week of making anything I want, eh?  Let's start off with a little thing I made a couple of weeks ago for a friend's birthday party--she decided to have a very fancy dinner at her house rather than a large gathering with pizza, etc...she covered appetizers, the main course, side dish, & dessert, but asked if I'd lend her a hand with the salad course.  Not having anything in my "salad" recipe index as of yet, I was more than happy to oblige!

     The dinner party itself was quite lovely--all the ladies in attendance dressed up, and the gentlemen...well, they stepped up their class too. But frankly, when are guys EVER as excited as women to get classy?  Dinner was absolutely delicious...roasted pork with mashed potatoes & a HUGE chocolate cake for dessert.

    My contribution was much smaller...and to be honest, once we were there I shuffled everything in the actual salad together so quickly/it was plated & served so fast that I didn't have time to take pictures of the actual SALAD, just the vinaigrette I made beforehand. But I'll go ahead and tell you what was in it anyway.  In fact, I'll cut right to it, because a short recipe doesn't need an elaborate story beforehand, right? (And...y'know. 4 recipes, like I said. Gotta get to it!)

Spinach & Fruit Salad with a Honey Vinaigrette (Vinaigrette from Cooking Books)
For the Salad:
Raspberries
Blackberries
Spinach
Nectarines-thinly sliced
Feta cheese crumbles
Walnuts-optional!

     Simply toss all of the ingredients together, in whatever proportions you like. It's a salad, after all.

For the Vinaigrette:
1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or regular olive oil if that's all you've got)
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp (I ended up adding a bit more, to taste) Honey
Salt & pepper to taste (A few shakes of both)

     Pour all ingredients into a medium bowl & whisk, whisk, whisk away until everything is well blended. Give another whisk if ingredients ever separate!