~Lemon-Infused EVOO & White Balsamic Vinaigrette~
Lemon-infused olive oil is one of my favorite pantry staples -- a bit of it in a skillet adds marvelous flavor to a sautéing chicken paillard or delicate fillet of white fish. When mixed with some tangy white-balsamic vinegar, a pinch of sugar, a few herbes de Provence, and, a tad of Dijon mustard, an amazing vinaigrette is born. It's hard to name a salad that doesn't benefit from a lemony vinaigrette, and, in the case of this one, because the lemon flavor is infused in the oil, as opposed to a fresh squirt of lemon juice, every bite gets enrobed in its light, bright flavor. There's more: It is indisputably the best marinade for vegetables, poultry, fish or seafood I have ever encountered. Yes indeed, the investment in a bottle of lemon-infused EVOO is a small but mighty-wise one.
For the lemon-infused, white balsamic vinaigrette:
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup lemon-infused olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence
~ Step 1. In a 1-cup container with a tight-fitting lid and pourer top, place all ingredients. Vigorously shake until well-combined. Use as a marinade and/or dress salad and store leftovers in refrigerator.
Try it on my poached asparagus, grape tomato & mozzarella salad:
Lemon-Infused EVOO & White Balsamic Vinaigrette: Recipe yields 3/4 cup vinaigrette.
Special Equipment List: 1-cup measuring container w/tight-fitting lid and pourer top.
Cook's Note: Technically known as shallow poaching and sometimes referred to as skillet poaching, this is the easiest way to cook fresh asparagus spears. As it turns out, a small amount of gently or barely simmering salted water in a wide-bottomed skillet is a great way to quickly control the heat of the water, which, in turn, makes it very easy to efficiently yield vibrant green asparagus spears of any thickness that are cooked to your liking: crunch-tender blanched to fully-cooked fork-tender.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2019)
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