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It’s January, and for a lot of people, that means it’s time to load up on veggies. Whether you’re just craving some fresh, bright flavors after all of the holiday cooking you did over the past couple of months, or if you have a resolution to eat more vegetables, chances are your salad intake is about to go way up compared to, say, November. Thankfully, from trendy warm salads to classic lettuce-tomato-cucumber combos, these are some of our favorite ways to eat veggies, and nothing pairs better with the cozy, warm, and rich dishes we love to eat all winter than something with a little zing and crunch. Giada De Laurentiis knows this. The queen of pasta often shares her favorite salad recipes on social media, and now she’s done one better. De Laurentiis recently shared her go-to vinaigrette recipe for making homemade salad dressing, and it includes a store-bought shortcut that makes adding big flavor to your salads a breeze.
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Courtesy of Clarkson Potter.
“Use this as a dressing on salads of all kinds, a dip for crudites, a drizzle on cooked veggies and beyond,” says De Laurentiis of her vinaigrette recipe. It’s a pretty classic 2:1 oil to vinegar ratio dressing, with honey, Dijon, and salt added. But where De Laurentiis introduces a ton of flavor into her dressing, without any extra work, is by using an infused olive oil instead of something plain. In her recipe, De Laurentiis calls for garlic infused olive oil, which is also delicious drizzled as a finishing oil on pretty much anything savory, from pasta dishes and roasts to soups and more.
Courtesy of Colavita.
We’ve long loved using flavored olive oil in our cooking, especially for making vinagrettes, marinades, and dressings. Blood Orange Olive Oil is one of our favorites, adding a hint of citrusy sweetness to any salad. It’s especially nice paired with a little lemon juice, then drizzled over roasted sweet potatoes or winter squash, and it also helps tame the peppery fire of bitter winter greens, which are packed with nutrition.
Courtesy of Ariston.
There are tons of options to choose from, and if you have a gourmet foods shop in your town or city, that’s a great place to look for a variety of flavored oils to choose from — sometimes you even get samples so you can try before you buy. Once you find the perfect bottle, we have a feeling De Laurentiis’ favorite salad dressing hack will become one of your favorites, too.
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