Let’s face it, even if you bathe in extra virgin olive oil like us, using it day in and day out on your salad can get a little tiring. Even if you do change up the vinegar, and we make three kinds, artisanal red wine, white wine, and prosecco. Each which can lend a distinct flavor profile to the salad.
In searching for something different, I came up with this sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. It’s the right balance of tangy and sweet and it the perfect compliment to a nice, crispy salad.
Villa Cappelli Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Villa Cappelli Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- 1/2 Cup Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Villa Cappelli Red Wine Vinegar
Instructions
- Put everything into a blender (don't be afraid to add the garlic from the sun-dried tomatoes into the blender as well) and blend until everything is well smooth and well blended. Pour and enjoy.
Sun-dried tomatoes are super healthy, and this recipe is a simple way to get a little more into your diet. I originally made this to dress one of our fresh salads, but Paul couldn’t resist trying it on some of the chicken cutlets we were having and it was delicious.
Put everything into a blender (don’t be afraid to add the garlic from the sun-dried tomatoes into the blender as well) and blend until everything is well smooth and well blended. Pour and enjoy.
There are lots of other uses for this wonderful vinaigrette. As I said above in the recipe, Paul used it on chicken cutlets and it was really great. Grilled or fried, it really pair well with chicken
I am imagining it might be just as good as a side dip with a nice piece of chunky bread.
How about drizzled over some hearty grilled vegetables.
Drizzle it over some ricotta, cream cheese or goat cheese and it would be make a divine dip for any dinner party.
In other words, I wouldn’t let yourself be limited to just salads. Especially when sun-dried tomatoes are so dang healthy.
Sun-drying a tomato is a process that intensifies the tomato’s natural tanginess and preserves its inherent nutritional value, being a rich source of lycopene and vitamin C. In fact, sun-dried tomatoes are said to provide the most lycopene, gram per gram, than any other food and have 20 times more lycopene than fresh tomatoes. Add in the fact that olive oil improves lycopene absorption by the body, and you’ve got one powerful and delicious antioxidant food!
Also, I should point out, that even if you don’t use our sun-dried tomatoes, please uses packed in extra virgin olive oil. Anything else is just gross, but that’s for a different post. Most other brands use seed oil and plain olive oil which not only ruins the flavor, but diminishes the nutrients you could be getting. Anything olive oil aside from extra virgin should really just be used as table polish. We’ve actually done a few podcasts on that and the dangers of buying anything but extra virgin. You can check those out here: https://www.livingvillacappelli.com/how-to-make-olive-oil/ and https://www.livingvillacappelli.com/022-how-to-tell-if-your-extra-virgin-olive-oil-is-really-extra-virgin/
So there you have it. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I had fun creating it. I always love to hear what you think or how you used this sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, so please let me know in the comments.
