Simple Vinaigrette

Last night I had a potluck board meeting and was fortunately assigned salad duty. I say "fortunately" because salad is easy and my free time has been scarce this past week due to catching-up-at-work-post-vacation (I know, big sob story). The holidays are also in full swing, which hit me over the head when I went shopping for the fixings. Runny-nose kids were jumping on toy displays, ladies clad with coupons were racing through the aisles (and taking out elbows with their carts), men with perplexed faces were picking apart the bric-a-brac on 2-day-sale tables, and I was fighting for my life (and the last fennel bulb) in the produce department. I survived the checkout lines and fled the store, only to realize that I had forgotten salad dressing. I refused to go back into the hell mouth that was Fred Meyers and wait in line again, so I raided the cupboards at home and whipped up this simple vinaigrette. It's not half bad...

Inspiration: Jingle-bell meltdown
Time: Under 5 minutes
Difficulty: What difficulty?

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup quality vinegar (I mixed apple cider with balsamic)
  
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 tablespoon finely-chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
  
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  
• 3/4 cup olive oil

Add first six ingredients and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Continue whisking and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Or, you can just pour all ingredients into a bottle with tight-fitting lid and shake it (and I mean shake it. Shake, shake, shake, shake it. Like a Polaroid picture.)

What to dress? For the salad, I caramelized red onion and fennel root and tossed it with 1/2 spinach, 1/2 field greens, fresh tomato, cucumber, carrots, pears and pecans. Yum. Goat cheese is also a great addition... but alas, another ingredient that I forgot to get at the store!