Friday, June 28, 2013

Whole Foods Feasting: Plum Vinaigrette

Plums may be my favorite fruit. If not the absolute top favorite, they are pretty close to the top. I also love the variety available, from large, dark purple plums with dark red interiors to mid-sized green plums with a pale peach-colored interior, to the small prune plums, and everything in between.

For the recipes today and tomorrow I used the larger dark purple plums, and I have to say that the resulting color was stunning. the salad dressing was a bright magenta-red and the ice cream (posting tomorrow) was a lovely purple.

This recipe won't scream "plum!!!" at you, but it has a lovely fruitiness that could be mistaken for raspberry, with the bright color adding to the illusion. Of course, you could use other plum varieties, but the color will be different.

Plum Vinaigrette

1 large plum (red interior preferred)
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons water
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Sugar, as needed

Wash the plum, cut it in half, and remove the pit. Cut the plum in chunks and add it to your blender along with the sherry vinegar and enough water (up to 2 tablespoons) to encourage the blender to obliterate the plum. Blend until smooth.

Add the salt and oil. Blend until well combined.


Taste for seasoning and add salt, if desired. Depending on how sweet or tart your plum was, you might want to add a touch of sugar if the dressing is too tart. Blend again, just to combine.

Use immediately or transfer to a storage container and refrigerate until needed.

This won't completely emulsify like a traditional vinegar-and-oil dressing and will separate if not used in a short time. But that's fine - just whisk, blend, or shake to re-combine the ingredients.
Yum