In the summer, one of my least favorite thing to do is cook indoors. Although we love using fresh, local ingredients in our meals, it just plain sucks to cook in the heat. Instead, we grill out a lot and eat salads. Problem solved.
When I was a little girly girl, I loved to eat salad. My grandmother made the best homemade salad dressing composed simply of red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt (lots of salt) and pepper. I’ve tweaked that recipe a bit but still use that one from time to time. Here’s my favorite dressing. We save a lot of money making our own, surely, and preparing our own fresh salads right at home.
Honey Balsamic Dressing
Equal parts extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar (try 2 tbsp of each for a family-sized side salad)
Honey, around 1 tbsp, more or less to taste
Honey mustard or any mustard…about 2 tsps, more or less to taste
Salt pinch
Pepper pinch
Shake well & pour over salad. Yes, it’s that easy.
I have a plethora of vinegar varieties in my pantry. Red wine, balsamic, white balsamic, white peach balsamic, seasoned rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar…and always willing to try more! They all work fine. Also, I prefer tupelo honey or raw, organic honey for it’s health benefits but any honey will do, of course. 
Occasionally, I add fresh herbs, like cilantro or dill weed, or even dried herbs such as Herbes De Provence. Anything thrown in will be delectable.
Not-so secret, right?! Let me know how you like it. I can’t bring myself to ever have anything else. This dressing hits the spot every time.
Enjoy! And salúte!
my favorite recipe too, and if you are making a single serving salad, i just do equal parts and use 1/2 tsp. i love to use this on baby spinach with strawberries, goat cheese and almonds.