I <3 Balsamic Vinegar

December 28th, 2009 by leigha

I never used to like balsamic vinegar.  Well, I should actually say I never tried balsamic vinegar because I didn’t think I’d like it.  I mean, it’s vinegar.  How good could it be, right?  It’s probably sour and gross… Oh how I was wrong.  I LOVE balsamic vinegar and I am so happy that I decided to give it a go tonight.

Jason’s been super understanding about the me not cooking thing, but I promised him that I’d make an attempt to cook more meals instead of us getting take-out.  Last night while we were at a local Italian restaurant (okay so I started for real today) he made a mention that I hadn’t made stuffed shells in a very LOOONG time.  I actually remember the last time I made them, and honestly it’s probably been 6 years or so.

So for dinner tonight I made manicotti for my man.  And this is where I fell in love with balsamic vinegar.  No, I didn’t put balsamic vinegar in the manicotti, but I figured I could make my own vinaigrette for our salad.  Jason’s a fan of vinaigrette’s too.  I actually didn’t use a recipe for the vinaigrette, I just kind of threw different amounts of balsamic vinegar, roasted garlic olive oil, salt, honey and spicy brown mustard together in a bowl and whisked it around til it combined and then threw it on the salad.  It was FANTASTIC!  Not bitter, but wonderfully sweet.

Now, this is really supposed to be about my new found love of balsamic vinegar, but unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of my yummy dressing.  I did, however, get a picture of my yummy manicotti.  This too I just threw together by the seat of my pants.  I cheated a bit and used jarred sauce since I didn’t get home from cake class ’til almost 8:30, but oh well–we can’t have everything in life.

Overall I’m super proud of myself for this one.  Now if only I could get my kitchen cleaned…