Last week I went to a local downtown farmers market and was delighted by this delicious find from Winter Park Honey.

I always buy local, raw honey, and usually it’s an orange blossom flavor or tupelo. I had never tried blackberry honey before! It is so unique, yummy, and I highly recommend it. It, along with my other market purchases inspired me to make a farmers market salad. And of course, every good salad needs a delicious homemade dressing!

A basic vinaigrette recipe is a mixture of a type of oil and a type of vinegar. Typically spices, garlic, mustard, or citrus may be added to flavor the vinaigrette in different ways. This is one of the funnest types of recipes to experiment with because it can be turned into a compliment for any flavor profile. For my farmers market salad, I decided I wanted something sweet and a little spicy.

Honey Chipotle Vinaigrette Recipe makes about one cup

4T honey

4T balsamic vinegar

5-6T vegetable oil

1T Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove

1T chipotle chili pepper powder

2t paprika

1t celery salt regular salt will substitute just fine

1t white pepper

Combine all ingredients except oil in a food processor and combine. After everything is mixed slowly add the oil in, one tablespoon at a time. Adjust seasonings as desired.

Note that vinaigrettes can be made with a whisk or shaken in a closed bottle as well. When made with these methods, though, the oil and vinegar will eventually separate. The food processor method permanently blends the two together when the oil is added slowly enough.

And there you have a sweet and spicy vinaigrette to compliment any salad!

Look for my Farmers Market Salad here.