I haven’t been able to get to the grocery and the pickings are getting slim around here. Last night I made a pantry/freezer mish-mosh (similar to this recipe) just trying to get rid of some things. It actually turned out pretty amazing (recipe coming soon). I actually remembered to write down the recipe as I threw things in the pan, which was great, considering that I rarely use a recipe and often forget to measure things out for you guys.

Sometimes not having a bunch of food in the house is a good thing, because it forces me to get creative and use up things that might not get used otherwise. Like today, while I was rummaging through the fridge trying to find something for lunch I found a half a bag of spinach that needed to be eaten, along with some strawberries that were on the verge of going bad. I looked around the kitchen a little more and decided to try to make a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.

Surprisingly enough, it turned out to be incredibly good! This made enough for about 3-4 salads this size, depending on how much you like to use. It was so easy and quick that I will definitely be making this on a regular basis. In fact, I have some raspberries and blueberries in the fridge that I am going to try next.  I am going to make up a little bit more of this and make a strawberry chicken salad out of it for dinner.

I used grapeseed oil in this because it is good for you and it doesn’t have much flavor, so I knew that it wouldn’t overpower the balsamic and strawberry flavor. You could easily use olive oil if you wanted to.

This brand of balsamic is Gluten Free.

Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinaigrette
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed (or olive) oil
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 4 strawberries, tops removed and chopped

Basically you are just going to throw all of this in a blender or food processor and pulse until the strawberries are pureed. I used the magic bullet because it was the perfect size.

Then you can just serve up on some spinach like I did, I wish I would have had a little goat cheese to top this! Or you could use it for some baked chicken or even pork chops. It is delicious!