Quick Fix: Blood Orange Vinaigrette

'Round these parts, we love to eat salad. It's a great accompaniment to many a dish. What we don't like? Processed salad dressings. Every once in a while, we'll buy a bottle of the good stuff, but most times, I like to make my own dressings because it's simple and healthy. Let's face it, there is no feeling like knowing what in the heck went into your food.

Best of all? It's easy! This is a dressing I have been making a ton of lately, since I came across a bag of blood oranges in my local grocery. Blood oranges used to be a hard fruit to find... a specialty fruit, if you will. But I guess they are all trendy now, so you can find them much more easily. Lucky for me--and lucky for you! (Also, they are good in cocktails... but more on that in a later post!) 

Also, I would like to give a little credit on this one. My friend Katie makes amazing salad dressings. Once I saw her add orange juice into her homemade dressing and when I saw these oranges, I thought I would give it a try. This was the result, and I have her to thank. So thank you Katie!

Behold: blood oranges! They vary a little bit in color, as you can see, but the juice has a very nice, deep color and the taste is a little more sour than their Florida counterparts--which is why I like em! Two is the magic number of oranges for this dressing. 

If you don't own this gadget (the juicer thingy, as I like to officially call it), I highly recommend it. It comes in handy for ALL the time in the kitchen, and this is just one of those times! 

This step is not essential, but humbly recommended. I like to get the little bits out and that includes the pulp. Sorry pulp, but you don't make my short list. 

Add some red wine vinegar, which you should always keep on hand!

And extra virgin olive oil.... 

Put them in any container with a lid along with some garlic, salt and white pepper.... 

And shake it...shake... shake... shake! Shake your dressing! Shake your dressing!

Do a little dance... make a little dressing... get down to tonight! Huh!

And pop it in the fridge until you are ready to wow your salad! Easy, right? 

Time: 10 minutes | Serves 4 or one large salad | Difficulty Level: Easy 

You Will Need: 

2 blood oranges, juiced (which is about 2 ounces) 

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1 clove garlic, minced

3 dashes of white pepper 

bit of salt 

Strain the blood orange juice to get out any seeds and/or pulp. 

Combine all the ingredients in a jar or container with a lid. Shake the jar to fully combine the ingredients (while singing a fun 70's song about shaking your booty and interchanging "booty" for "dressing") 

Taste for seasonings and add salt or pepper to adjust, if needed. 

Place the jar in the refrigerator until you are ready to dress your salad. 

Don't you feel awesome and all homemade and stuff? I know... it's great!