Sweet Maple-Hemp Vinaigrette

Recently I have been using several varieties of Annie's salad dressings, which I really like (and will post about later this week). Last night, though, I really wanted my own homemade vinaigrette, because I have yet to find a bottled dressing that stands up to the fresh taste and 'unheavy' texture of one that's freshly made. So, I made my Sweet Maple-Hemp Vinaigrette from Vive.

Vinaigrettes are simpler than most people think. I find it's easiest to use my - yes, you guessed it - immersion blender. That's because it: helps emulsify the ingredients, does so quickly, and is easy to clean. Below is the vinaigrette with the immersion blender before whizzing (I use cleaned jars from nut butters), and then after (on right). Then, I used a funnel to transfer my dressing to the bottle pictured on top.



I love this maple-hemp vinaigrette because first, it uses hemp oil, which is very healthful containing a ratio of essential fatty acids that is almost perfect for what our bodies need. I posted about hemp foods before, and Vive includes a section on these foods. You can also visit Manitoba Harvest for more information. Manitoba Harvest is the brand I use, and used for testing my recipes for Vive.

Secondly, I love this dressing because other than the hemp oil, the ingredients are stuff we have on hand and so that makes it super-fast and simple!

Finally, I love the combination of the maple syrup and the hemp oil. Through my testing, there are a few ingredients that I found really paired well with hemp... maple syrup is one, and this dressing highlights your salad with a slighlty sweet, sunflower flavor that goes well with many entrees!