Anatomy of a Dinner

My dinner lies in wait. I have some grilling to do. That's pretty fool-proof these days. A nice thick free range ribeye steak encrusted with Montreal steak spice. Then I'll have a salad heavy on the tomatoes and sweet peppers, with the salad dressing that follows.

I decided to splurge with some oils and vinegar, stuff I've been planning on investing in for some time, to bring a little excitement back to Salad World. The splurge items today? Almond oil, hazelnut oil, balsamic mustard (with black mustard seed), and maple vinegar.

I'm not that big on maple, but if it's a subtle background ingredient it can offer some nice oomph. I decided to see if I could combine what I had bought for a nice dressing tonight.

Steff's Honey-Maple Vinaigrette

1 teaspoon balsamic mustard
2 teaspoons maple vinegar
1.5 tablespoons hazelnut oil
2 teaspoons honey
salt & pepper to taste

Combine and serve on a nice salad. Mine, as I mentioned, is heavy on the ripe tomatoes, sweet-tooth peppers, and fresh baby greens. Thinking of a little bit of chopped monterey jack cheese and cashews on there, too.

This time I'm not keeping my nut oils at room temperature! At least I'm wising up.