Bright and Sunny Simple Lemon Vinaigrette

A simple lemon vinaigrette to brighten up any salad this spring and summer. Also great in a chilled pasta or grains salad, or as a meat or fish marinade. Sunshine in a jar 🙂

I'm obsessed with anything lemony and bright tasting, so if you share in this flavor love, you will adore this recipe! It only has four ingredients, all of which you probably have on hand already. Music to your ears, right?!

For years now, I've been making homemade salad dressings because it's the cleanest possible way to eat salads. With store bought dressings... you just never know. You can read the ingredients label and probably find some good, clean ones (I'm talking just a handful of whole, pronounceable ingredients), but making it yourself is so much simpler, fresher, and cleaner. I will stubbornly argue that there are very few, if any, store bought salad dressing that can beat a homemade one.

To me, avoiding store bought dressing is not even about fat and calories. Salad dressings that contain fat are awesome because fat is a carrier for nutrients, and you want to absorb the optimal amount of all the nutrients you're potentially eating in that beautiful salad! So don't be afraid of a little fat and a few calories -- they're critical for energy and balance. Artificial ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, and all things partially hydrogenated, on the other hand... run for your life because you deserve better! You deserve something like this seriously delicious simple lemon vinaigrette.

Reasons to Love this Simple Lemon Vinaigrette:

• Incredibly versatile. It could go on so many things! Not just salad. I think it would be extra yummy in a grain salad or even in a pasta salad. Or some sort of salad with greens, cheese (think feta or goat cheese) and fruit (think berries). You could also marinate meat or fish in it for a really bright flavor. The possibilities are endless!
• Got that sweet-tart thang going on
• All-natural
• Simple. Only four ingredients!
• Great for meal prep. Triple the recipe and store it in a jar in the fridge for the week.
• Uses pantry staples. While you might not have some of these ingredients at all times, usually a well-stocked kitchen has olive oil, honey (or some sort of sweetener), and lemons.
• It looks like sunshine in a jar 🙂

And speaking of brightening things up, I have non food-related news that brightened up my week (no wait... month! No wait... year!). It's not even that big of a deal... but I'm just really excited because I have been waiting for this for so long! Last spring, my dad and I were given my grandmother's 66-year-old stereo. It wasn't working when we got it, but he finally found someone who could fix it and got it up and running last week. So this weekend, when I was at my parents' house for Easter, we were playing records and listening to it and it was the BEST. THING. EVER. I can't even tell you. The little things in life just get me! The sound was so amazing, and we could hear it throughout the entire house as if we had speakers in every room. So basically my Easter Sunday afternoon consisted of blaring a Beatles love songs record... four sides of the best Beatles love songs, many of which are my dad's and my shared favorites.

Anyway, I just had to share that bit. I hope you had wonderful Easter weekends, and I hope this simple lemon vinaigrette recipe brightens up your week 🙂

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