You’ll want to drizzle this bright green chive oil dressing over all the spring vegetables and greens that are in season right now. Radishes, tender greens and baby lettuces will pop with a bit of this simple vinaigrette.
Hey party people, it’s MAY!!! Happy MAYYYYYY!!!! Can you tell I am happy that we are out of stick season and finally officially into the season where all the green things come out of the ground?
If you’ve been following me for a while now, you know that I celebrate May by posting salad recipes all month long. It is National Salad Month, and I am the number one fan of it!
We have been getting all sorts of goodies in our CSA that I am going to share with you as the month goes by. As far as my garden, there isn’t a whole lot going on right now produce wise. We got 3 inches of snow last week, just to put it into perspective for you!
But that said, with the rain we got over the weekend and yesterday, new blooms are popping up in the garden daily. Now the rock cress is blooming, as is the pulmonaria (lungwort.) Down in town, which is at a lower elevation than where our property is, the creeping phlox is starting to form mats of jewel tones. And of course the millions of daffodils are everywhere, blooming in their succession of yellows!
In the vegetable garden my beloved chive plants are the only thing worth mentioning. Last fall, with my cookbook tour, I never pulled out the basil plants that took over much of the garden, so their dead stalks still stand in a creepy post apocalyptic row. And there is some sort of rodent (I think a mole) living in our compost bin. Every other time I take the compost out, he/she startles the bejeesus out of me when I open the lid, but scurries into the stone wall before I can really see what it is. Don’t worry, I’ll be jumping on the gardening bandwagon in a week or three, time willing.
With the chives being the bright spot in the vegetable garden this week, I thought that a chive oil dressing would be a yummy way to start off salad month.
Chive Oil. I know I know, it sounds fancy and complicated, but it is so simple to make. Here’s how you do it.
Just blend garden fresh chives and extra-virgin olive oil in a blender until it is bright green and you can only see tiny shreds of chive in the mixture. That’ll take about 30 seconds. Then simply strain out the chive solids by pouring the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Do you have one of those? I like my oxo one.
Then whisk it with Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and honey. I love the sweetness from the honey to balance the acidity of the white wine vinegar. That’s all there is to it. A little goes a long way with this chive dressing, so drizzle sparingly, toss, taste and add more if you need it.
We’ve had this salad dressing a bunch of times over the last three or four weeks and it really adds a lovely brightness to our salads. I especially love it with combos that include microgreens and/or misuna, nuts and a little goat milk feta cheese. I can’t wait to try it over grilled asparagus next. Yum!
Questions:
What is growing in your garden right now?
What is coming in your CSA share these days?
Have you ever made chive oil?
What kind of salads would you like to see here for salad month?
Make sure you check for the #SaladMonth hashtag on social media this month, as there is much more to come!!
This simple chive oil salad dressing is a bright green, paleo and gluten-free vinaigrette that livens up spring greens and vegetables. Try it over micro greens and mizuna with toasted nuts and goats milk feta. Or drizzle a little over grilled asparagus! Yum!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Puree oil and chives in a blender until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl until all of the solids are extracted. Discard solids. Whisk honey and Dijon into the oil. Whisk in vinegar. Whisk in salt and pepper. Use immediately or store in a jar up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature if solidified.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE RECIPES FROM THE ARCHIVES
Shaved Asparagus Salad with Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts
Light Creamy Italian Salad Dressing
Spring Salad with Radishes, Bacon and Yogurt Dill Dressing
Oh, my, this dressing sounds divine! Thanks for the links to your other dressings as well. I’m looking forward to my CSA starting in a few weeks. Nothing in my garden yet… but soon! One question: Do you strain the chives out for aesthetic reasons or because the flavor would be too ‘chive-y’? 🙂
Thank you Janice. I am looking forward to gardening this year, I just have to get out there and start! I strained out the chive solids for both reasons, this packs a pretty potent chive flavor as is. And it keeps in the fridge better without the solids.
Makes perfect sense, thanks!
Love the sound of this dressing! We’re always looking for new dressings to try, we need to try this one soon!
Thank you Jessica.
I’m all about making salad dressing at home and this one sounds wonderful! Loving the color too 🙂
Home-made dressings are the best aren’t they? Thanks for stopping over Karman.
Love when the fresh chives come out in full force! This looks delicious, I can’t wait to try it on spring salads. Happy May!
Me too! I love my chive plants.
O I love that straining method!! And I am such a fan of chives!!! Their flavor is unmistakable!
What a gorgeous salad dressing! It sounds divine as well! I only make homemade dressings…i’ll have to add this to my list!
this dressing sounds like a dream!i I’m usually just chop them up and throw them on salads or stir fries, but I’m so intrigued by this chive oil! Can’t wait to try this!
I love this! I had no idea it’s salad month! That will be a new celebration at our house because we are getting so many greens in our CSA. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. I’m slightly obsessed with salads and greens. We are getting a bunch of new Asian greens this year so that’s quite a new adventure.
It is salad month. Join me!
Wow, this looks so good! I am loving all of the spring/summer produce available at the farmer’s markets these days, and will definitely have to make this dressing for my next salad! Yum!
Love the color and the dressing. I will have a try. Seems so delicious.
Thank you Anne. Have a great day.