This Lemon + Shallot Vinaigrette is a staple in my kitchen. Homemade salad dressing is simpler to make than you’d think, and once you try it you’ll never go back to the store bought stuff. Plus, if you have this dressing and greens in your fridge, you're about two minutes away from a healthy and flavorful dish without having to think about it. As is, this recipe yields enough dressing for a salad with 8-12oz of greens, depending on how heavy handed you are with additional toppings, and it's easy to scale it up or down. I prefer a punchier and more acidic dressing for added flavor, and particularly using fresh citrus so I can use the citrus zest.

Here, the first step of the recipe is to let diced shallots, lemon zest and juice, Dijon mustard, and salt sit together for 10 minutes. This step, also known as “macerating”, mellows out the raw bite of the shallot and almost pickles them, which makes every bite so delicious. As always, I’m sharing tons of ways you can riff and swap in this recipe to make it work for you. Be sure to check out the riffs section underneath the recipe for these tips!

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