Roasted Strawberry Oil Balsamic Vinaigrette

Happy summer, everyone! This is a summer-y creation.

U-pick strawberry season in Wisconsin coupled with the July 4th holiday. I took my family to a local farm. Before I knew it I went home with more than 20 pounds of super ripen super juicy super sweet so much better than the store bought strawberries. Now I needed creative juices to consume/preserve it quickly.

Making jam only used a portion of it. How to solve a problem of too much strawberries? I love problems because they offer opportunities to grow, learn and invent. I love to win Instructable contests prizes too. The problem and love tripled with Instructables' Oil and Vinegar Contest with a bottle of 100 years old balsamic vinegar. I'm in it! I know how good that bottle of 100 years old balsamic vinegar is without ever tasting it. Once I bought a bottle of 20 years old balsamic vinegar. I started to tell people who drink wine to stop drink wine and start drinking 20 years old balsamic vinegar.

The main secret to a good vinaigrette is the balance of acidity, sweetness and salty taste with aromas from other spices and ingredients, and oil to form a good emulsion and bring all flavors in harmony. Good strawberry naturally has a good balance of acidity and sweetness. Using balsamic vinegar on summer salad with strawberry in it is not something new. Why not use strawberry in balsamic vinaigrette and then use the vinaigrette in a whole lot of other dishes? That's what I did.

I had a brunch with two other pals. I arranged a salad plate of three rainbows. Thanks to my newly created vinaigrette! Everybody loved it. It is great for chicken salad or spinach salad. I used it in making fettuccine one evening and it tasted great. Another beauty of this vinaigrette is it doesn't separate for days in fridge. Tempted to try this recipe? Below are what I used:

FOR THE STRAWBERRY OIL BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE:

2 cup strawberries

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoon honey

2 large clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Yield: about 1 1/4 cups

FOR THE RAINBOW PLATE

Red: red bell pepper, bacon and soft pretzel

Orange: carrot

Yellow: summer squash

Green: avocado

Blue: blank plate ( had a hard time thinking of any food of that color until I realized my plate was exactly the blue color)

Indigo: (blue berry)

Violet: purple radish

FYI: My friends and I agree bacon pairs best with this vinaigrette, blueberry second and soft pretzel third, if this helps.

Glass baking pan and a blender are all you need. It takes 3 really easy steps to make the vinaigrette.

Remove leaves and stems.

Remove the white center which is flavorless (if you use store bought strawberries, it's very likely they have the white center. Mine didn't because I picked ripen strawberries).

Rinse them in water and place them on paper towel lined baking sheet to absorb excess water.

Cut them to halves or quarters.

Place the strawberries in a single layer on a glass baking pan (Don't use baking sheet or foil that may react with the acid in fruits under high temperature).

Preheat oven to 425F.

Place the pan with prepared strawberries in the preheated oven until they start to caramelize, about 15 minutes.

Let the roasted strawberries to cool enough to handle.

Measure remaining ingredients into a blender.

Add in the cooled roasted strawberries (use a soft tip spatula to scrape every bit of the juice in) and puree until smooth.

Taste it alone, use it in salad, use it when stir frying noodles, dip in it with bread.

Enjoy! Please vote this Instructable for the Oil and Vinaigrette Challenge and the rainbow contest if you like it. A million thanks!

BTW: If you have no idea how to write the text on the bowl like I did, my recent instructable can teach you how to to it: https://www.instructables.com/id/10-Steps-to-your-own-logo-in-Inkscape-free-and-usi/