JoanneSmith:
if u make your own citrus vinaigrette, can you share your ingredients/recipe for that?
I had some store bought citrus balsamic creme, which was the base for it, along with mandarin juice, apple cider vinegar with honey, and olive oil. We have plenty of our own mandarins and tangerines right now (it's their season), and olive oil is always our very own, home grown and made one. (I live in a Mediterranean island)
I used what I had available today, but it would be healthier (and arguably better) if made from scratch with balsamic vinegar (anything with "di modena" added to it is usually better in my experience, and I'm not even Italian, lol), any combination of citrus fruits juice, freshly squeezed (like orange juice, mandarin juice, and just a little lemon juice), high-quality honey (like thyme honey), and virgin olive oil. (Ready made "balsamic creme" usually has a very high sugar content, along with other nasties!)
The ratio of each ingredient really depends on personal preference in the range of sour to sweet. I like my salads to be just in the verge of sweetness, not sour, but not too sweet, so I would use:
1 tbs of honey
2 tbs of orange (or tangerine/mandarin) juice
1 tbs of balsamic vinegar
1 tbs of lemon juice
4 tbs of virgin olive oil
salt
ginger powder
sweet paprika powder
You mix everything and beat very well until it takes a cream-like consistency. Mix half of it with the salad, put in the fringe for at least 15 minutes, then just before serving, sprinkle the rest of the vinaigrette on top, along with some extra olive oil -or vinegar if needed.
You can adjust everything depending on the salad and the target taste. For example, in a very colourful salad, I'd recommend you use white balsamic vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, instead of the black regular balsamic, to not waste and dull the beautiful colours.