Strawberry Vinaigrette W/ Candied Nuts

I have been having fun making my own dressing for salads. I like the idea of saving money and also of having something healthy to put on my salad. Like anything when you are experimenting, some work better than others. The ones as of late have worked out well. Last night I tried out this one and it was a success. It is wonderful to put strawberries in the salad too. Not the best season for that, but it will be soon. :) So have fun coming up with your own creative dressings. The cool thing is they are easy to make too. The nice thing is you make a small amount you could even 1/2 this recipe. The other nice thing is you don't have bottles of dressing sitting in your fridge for a long time, that I always wondered if they were still good.

Ingredients:

1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 T xagave or honey etc...
2 T apple cider vinegar
6 to 7 frozen strawberries (You could use jam and cut down on the sugar)
3/4 C olive oil
(I have added herbs too)

Directions:

1. Pour all the ingredients in the blender and let it whirl. I love how the blender puts some air in it and makes it really creamy. Give it a tasted and see if you want to add anything. The dressing is ready to serve.

* The other thing my family likes is to put candied nuts on the salad. You can do this by, chopping up 1 C of nuts, in a blender or food processor. I usually do almonds, other ones would work too. Then pour the nuts into a small frying pan, on the stove. Pour in 2 T of sugar, honey, or agave etc.. Then turn the heat to med. If you are using sugar it will melt. You need to keep and eye on it. Keep stirring it, till the mixture starts to thicken. Let it cook for another couple minutes. Then take off the stove, and let cool before putting on the salad. Yummy!

*If the dressing starts to separate after sitting in the fridge, you can just pour it in the blender and blend it again. The one I made last night is still a good consistency. It has not separated. Have fun with it.