When I say “vinaigrette”, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
…Salad? I thought so.
Don’t get me wrong, a good vinaigrette can make a salad truly amazing. In my kitchen, gone are the days of bottled “Italian” dressing over iceberg lettuce and bad tomatoes. Instead, I grab a mason jar and pour a quarter cup of good quality olive oil, a couple glugs of balsamic or apple cider vinegar, a squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh chopped herbs, 1 minced garlic clove and a bit of salt and pepper and shake! Lightly pour over a bowl full of fresh garden greens or my newest obsession – dandelion greens – mix well and serve! Now THAT is a salad!
But if I want to create real wow moments in my kitchen with vinaigrette, I use that exact same “recipe” as inspiration for other dishes as well. With a little bit of creative thinking, we can all be true culinary innovators and not only expand our taste experiences but those of our dinner guests as well!
I remember once I had a few people over for dinner – 3 of which were vegetarians. It was the height of Summer so the grill was fired up but if I wasn’t going to cook meat, what else could I BBQ?
If you’re like me at all, you want to keep the work you do in the kitchen during a dinner party to a minimum. Not to mention the cost of the ingredients. Feeding 10 people or more requires a bit of ingenuity both for the pocket book and the mind! And then it hit me – why spend a ton of money on a pre-made marinade or complicate the dinner when I could use the same flavors in each dish? What tastes a certain way on a salad will most definitely taste differently in something else – while at the same time, mirror and reflect a theme throughout the meal!
So Portobello mushrooms it was! I took my salad dressing, dumped it into a freezer bag with a few extra herbs and chucked in the cleaned, dry mushrooms. I massaged in the flavors and let sit for 4 hours, rotating occasionally. This same method could have been used for meat as well. When it came time to cook, I drained the mushrooms of excess liquid (which then was promptly discarded), and chucked ’em on the grill for about 3 minutes per side. We then plated them up with a salad dressed with the same vinaigrette (freshly made of course – especially if you plan on marinating meat; you don’t want to re-use raw meat marinade) and a side baked potato.
It was divine.
But this dish was just the beginning. You can explore flavors and experiences by changing up the vinegar or herbs you use with parsley, thyme, rosemary, basil or marjoram. Or instead of garlic, slice up a preserved lemon and a few olives. Or use lime juice instead of fresh lemon! Or pink peppercorns instead of black cracked pepper! Or add other elements like honey, sun-dried tomatoes or maple syrup! The possibilities are endless!
Creating Wow Moments in your kitchen doesn’t have to be expensive or exotic. You can start with something small – like vinaigrette – and simply re-purpose it. Easy peasy right?
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
How have you re-purposed or re-invented a particular element of a dish? How have you made something new in your kitchen? Do you host many dinner parties? Tips or tricks to having a successful one? Lessons you’ve learned by attending them? Share your thoughts below or on our Facebook Page!
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