I know I made all sorts of commotion about writing this cooking blog with Taylor, but unfortunately we were both excessively busy this week and just couldn’t find a second to rendezvous in the kitchen! We’ll return to our love affair for a Valentine’s special next week, but until then you’re stuck with just me.
Because I was on my own this week, and because I’m so limited by my lack of a fully stocked kitchen, I decided to cater to the “I don’t have a car or a kitchen and I only believe in spending food/FLEX” crowd. I wanted to make a tasty and light lunch while limiting myself to groceries that can be purchased on campus, using only my blender!
A common misconception is that blenders are only good for smoothies, milkshakes, and margaritas. Well, as the daughter of a first-class Vitamix owner, I know a thing or two about the capabilities of your standard __-speed blender: soups, batters, sauces, dips, the works. Yesterday, I decided to use my blender to make my Mom’s “world”-famous sweet and sour sauce.
The key ingredients to any good vinaigrette are vinegar and oil, and my secret ingredient of choice is honey. If you don’t have all of the ingredients listed below (don’t worry, I didn’t either), just work with the three foundational ingredients to achieve a light and tangy flavor to your liking!
Spinach Salad with Apples, Walnuts, and Mama Alman’s Sweet and Sour Vinaigrette
What you’ve gotta have:
Dressing(I cut the recipe in half which will probably cover at least 10 salads, and purchased all of the ingredients using FLEX at the Lobby Shop!)
· 1 1/2 cups sugar
· 2 tsp. dried minced onion
· 1/2 tsp. salt
· 1/2 tsp. chili powder
· 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
· 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
· 1 cup apple cider vinegar
· 1 cup olive oil
· 1/2 cup honey
Salad(I got all of these from the Great Hall!)
· spinach
· walnuts
· an apple
What you’ve gotta do:
This one’s easy. Just pour all of the dressing ingredients into your blender, and blend for about a minute. If you don’t have a blender, lots of RAs can tell you where to find one! (signed, an RA who knows). It will look like the ingredients are all blended within seconds, but keep it going to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Don’t have a measuring cup? A standard coffee mug is a little larger than a measuring cup, and you can use any spoon to guesstimate the rest. In order to be great in the kitchen, you have to be comfortable with eyeballing things every now and then! Besides, you want this dressing to taste good to you… if it isn’t tangy enough, add more vinegar, and if it isn’t sweet enough, add more sugar or honey.
In the meantime, cut your apple into thin slices, prepare the bed of spinach and dress it with the apple slices and walnuts. Use a spoon to dress your salad. It has a bold flavor and goes a long way – you probably won’t even need more than a spoonful or two so take it easy!
Pull out your fork and knife, and get your nom on.
Bon appétit!
Ashley