Cilantro Lemon Vinaigrette is a healthy homemade dressing with fresh cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, honey and champagne vinegar for a perfect salad dressing or fantastic marinade for meat. 
Cilantro Lemon Vinaigrette
This last weekend I traveled to Minneapolis for a studio lighting photography class. I have taken lots of other classes at the Minneapolis Photo Center and have been very impressed. These classes are my sole photography education apart from online tutorials.
I have had a small children’s portrait business for a few years now but I exclusively use natural light. While I love the look of the soft natural light, I felt it was time that I finally get a good grasp on studio lighting. I most likely won’t be using it for my business, but I would love to conquer it for personal projects and frankly for sheer pride’s sake.
The class was great and I learned some new things as well as had the opportunity to reinforce the previous knowledge I had with practical experience. I am a hands on learner, so having the chance to practice what I read in a book is the best way for me remember and store the information. These are a few of my favorite shots from the day.
One of my favorite parts of attending these classes has been the food. Of course. In the past they have served everything from homemade frittatas with gourmet salads to hummus spreads. I was expecting big things based on my past experiences, but sadly we ended up with burnt pizza and a basic salad with ranch dressing. They could have used some of this awesome Cilantro Lemon Vinaigrette to add a fun kick of flavor to the salad at the very least. 🙂
Cilantro Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1/3 c. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp water.
- 2 handfuls cilantro
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tsp. garlic diced
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 Tbsp champagne or red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender or a bowl with immersion blender. Puree until smooth and emulsified. Store refrigerated.
Nutrition
More healthy homemade dressings!
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Lala says
Bummed i wasted olive oil on this recipe; needs more work
Barbara J. Kimball says
This was way too tart for me! I would’ve used only 1 T of red wine vinegar, and maybe even only 3/4 T. I had to add 1/4 c. more olive oil, then more cilantro, and double the honey to take the tartness down and it is still too tart! It’s not that I don’t like tart — I love balsamic vinaigrette.
Wonder why this was so tart? All of my freshness dates on ingredients were fine
The one thing I noticed about the red wine vinegar is that it said on the label: “Red Wine Vinegar” and in small print below “with the mother.” I’m assuming that “the mother” is something it is derived from? Maybe mine was too tart to begin with?
Danielle Green says
Not sure why it was so tart for you but perhaps it was just a personal preference. In the future, if it is too tart, just add honey until it reaches the desired sweetness for you! Also, keep in mind that it will taste more tart when testing it just as in. Once you toss it with a salad that will tone down the tartness as well.