A zesty lime vinaigrette dressing made with fresh and easily available ingredients. It’s ready in minutes and has so many delicious uses.
While dressings are an opportunity to be creative and often substitute what you have available it’s also useful to have a few basics in your repertoire that you can fall back on when you are want to elevate a salad or vegetable dish.
While I like creating a fresh dressing as part of a dish I also keep a jar of vinaigrette like this and a homemade mayonnaise in the fridge to make healthy options that much easier on a busy day.
Now I know you can buy a bottle of dressing at the supermarket but there’s really no need when it’s so fast, easy and inexpensive to make it at home. There’s also the advantage of having none of the emulsifiers, thickeners, preservatives and artificial colouring in the homemade version.
If you’re watching the nutrient density of your food you know with a homemade vinaigrette that you have used only good quality cold-pressed oil, that’s something I find hard to get in commercially produced dressings in Australia, even with many of the premium brands.
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A great way to use fresh limes
I regularly fall back to this recipe when my lime tree is producing well, I don’t buy them out of season. Our limes, kaffir limes and finger limes all crop a little ahead of our lemon trees so I favour one over the over based on what I have available fresh from the tree.
I also squeeze, zest and freeze both lemons and limes when they are producing more than I can use and make use of that throughout the rest of the year.
Making up a couple of lemon ice cube trays to use later can be useful if you have any that might go to waste in the fruit bowl. Once frozen I pop them out of the trays and store them in an airtight container, the cubes retain a slight slip once frozen that prevents them from sticking together.
The dressing is so quick to make. Simply add all the ingredients into a jar or the beaker of your stick blender if you are using one.
I like to use the stick blender with the blending blade as it emulsifies a dressing like this in seconds, my Bamix does it literally in 10 seconds and it stays combined well for several days.
However, if you don’t have a stick blender you can use a small jar with a liquid-tight lid and give it a good shake to combine. An old jam jar or similar will work well. I did this for years and still do at times when I’m in a hurry. If you are storing a dressing made this way you will need to give it a quick shake before each use.
Got more citrus to use up? Why not try this tangy lemon and blueberry slice
How to use a tangy lime dressing
This dressing works well on any green or chopped salad, I use it with my kumara salad, broccoli and broad bean salad and a wide range of nourish bowls. It’s also great on cooked baby carrots or broccoli to elevate them or I’ll drizzle it on steamed silverbeet.
How long will the zesty lime vinaigrette last?
Store homemade dressings in a glass jar or bottle with a tight lid and place in the refrigerator. With their fresh ingredients, they will last up to a week. If the dressing separates in the fridge just check the lid is tight and give it a good shake. This can happen even if it’s been emulsified with a stick blender and doesn’t indicate that the flavour or nutrients have deteriorated.
ZESTY LIME VINAIGRETTE DRESSING
A tangy lime vinaigrette dressing made with fresh and easily available ingredients. It's ready in minutes and has so many delicious uses.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 lime (zest and juice)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Finely zest the lime then squeeze the juice
- Place all ingredients in a jar or the beaker for your stick blender
- Use the blending blade on your stick blender and blend for 20 seconds until fully emulsified
- Serve immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator
Notes
- A lemon can be substituted for the lime if that is what you have available, the flavour will change but it is still delicious.
- I highly recommend staying with the extra virgin olive oil, if you want to substitute the type of oil I would use a high quality neutral flavoured oil such as avocado oil that has been cold-pressed.
- You can substitute the vinegar used in the recipe but I would stay with a light coloured, high-quality vinegar. White wine vinegar or champagne vinegar would be a good alternative.
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