Quick and Easy Peanut Vinaigrette

Happy Friday all!  A few years ago I was honored to have one of my favorite bloggers and friends, Alice of Savory Sweet Life as a guest poster.  She created one of the most delicious Quick & Easy Peanut Vinaigrette dressings you will ever make.  For all those who cannot find Trader Joe’s Low-Fat Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette, give this recipe a whirl.  It might just be even better than the real deal.

Alice inspires me everyday ~ she is an amazing cook, photographer blogger and person.  Her pictures always make me hungry and it is for this reason alone, she is my featured recipe from the archives this week.

Be prepared to be tempted to make several of her recipes when you stop by her site, Savory Sweet Life.  And, if you cannot get enough of her recipes, she is coming out with her very own cookbook this June 2012.

Courtesy of Alice from Savory Sweet Life

When Danica from Danica’s Daily asked me to guest post on her blog while she was on vacation, I thought “Why not?” I like Danica a lot and she has been a loyal and supportive follower of Savory Sweet Life. Reading her adventures of healthy eating is inspiring not only to me, but I’m sure to everyone else who reads her blog. My only dilemma was trying to figure out what type of recipe to post about. Even though she did give me an “out” by saying I could write about anything, I really wanted to come up with something that wouldn’t make anyone fall off the bandwagon. Lets just say I am no stranger to sugar, white flour, butter, and heavy cream. So instead I created a really wonderful salad Thai inspired vinaigrette.

I tried very hard to make it healthy. I’m not sure how many Weight Watchers points the vinaigrette is, but my gut instinct still screams “it’s healthy!” So I’m going to just trust Danica to answer any questions about the nutritional break down.

I love Thai peanut sauce. In fact I have an awesome recipe for coconut peanut sauce on Savory Sweet Life but it wouldn’t work very well for salad. Not only that, I wanted to create a vinaigrette with ingredients easily found in a supermarket. What I present to you is a peanut vinaigrette worthy of any salad. This dressing is not only quick and easy, it is incredibly delicious.

* By using a hand blender (or blender) it can be made within a few minutes. If you don’t have a blender, don’t panic. You can just whisk everything together and microwave the peanut butter for 30 seconds to soften it up. But I will say, a hand blender is a cook’s best friend.

QUICK & EASY PEANUT VINAIGRETTE (print it!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup of canola oil
• 2 Tbsp of sugar or splenda equivalent
• 4 Tbsp of creamy peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp of soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
• 1 tsp Sesame oil
• ¼ tsp Ground cumin
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• *For more heat, add ¼ tsp. Red pepper flakes
• *If you are a cilantro lover, add 3 Tbsp. Of cilantro leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Add all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a hand blender, mix everything until well incorporated (approx. 30 seconds). If mixing by hand, whisk everything until fully incorporated. See notation above regarding microwaving peanut butter.

NOTE FROM DANICA ~ You can modify this recipe using 1/3 cup rice vinegar and only 2 Tbsp canola oil to reduce the points+ value by 1 (1 points+ per 1 Tbsp.)

Makes 1 cup, 16 servings, 2 points+ per Tablespoon

Nutritional information per Tablespoon calculated at caloriecount.com

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl….

Blend….

Toss with your favorite salad. Enjoy!

We are road tripping it tomorrow to enjoy our 80+ degrees of sunshine and I cannot wait.  Catch up with you all later this weekend.

Night all!