Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

You know what makes you feel like an adult-y wizard? Making your own salad dressings. Stay with me on this one, it sounds simple but it’s a game changer. Homemade salad dressings are so simple to prepare and add lots of fresh flavor that really bring a pop of complex flavor to simple salads. Make up a batch of this vegan, gluten free and paleo friendly cilantro lime dressing the next time you bring a salad to a family get together or potluck and feel like a real adult.

Here’s the finished product on a salad topped with the Indian Spiced Paleo Meatballs in the recipe below.

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette 

1 bunch of Cilantro, washed and roughly chopped (No need to remove the stems for dressing, just be sure to chop ’em up a bit to make it easier to blend.)
Juice of 2 limes (pro tip: save the leftover lime rinds in the freezer to use as lime zest in a future recipe)
1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
1 clove of garlic
1/2 Cup plus 2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp of Sea Salt
1 tsp Honey
1/2 tsp Cumin
A dash of Cayenne

Put your chopped up cilantro into the blender with the lime juice, garlic clove, honey and apple cider vinegar. Blend up while slowly adding the extra virgin olive oil in a stream. When the dressing is a uniform consistency, add all spices and blend to incorporate. Sample your masterpiece and adjust seasonings as needed.

After your dressing has been stored in the fridge, the olive oil will solidify but don’t despair! When you want to use it again just set out your dressing a little bit ahead of time (30 minutes or so) to let it become liquid-y again. Or if you’re short on time, place sealed bottle of dressing in a sink of warm water to help it liquify a little faster.