A Not-So-Subtle Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing

"Alas, poor big giant salad! I knew him well; a salad of infinite taste, of most excellent dressing; he hath borne me on his back for one meal; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is!" - Hamlet goes to the Salad Bar at Ryan's Steak House, Act 1 Verse 3

I've been eating at least 1 big salad a day for some time as part of my new diet/lifestyle changes. Now I don't subscribe to subtle tastes, so I wanted to share my oil and vinegar dressing, it's really tasty and the kind of high-octane thing that makes a salad attractive to bacon eating men. 

First of all, get out your salad bowl. The bigger the better-less chance of making a mess that way. Assemble the following:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 leaves of basil (Fresh from the garden)
thyme (Fresh from the garden)
1 pinch of garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt 
fresh ground pepper to taste
cholula hot sauce (Frank's will do)
A handful of nuts-pistachios, pecans or walnuts are good choices
a packet of stevia or splenda sweetner or agave syrup. 
3 fresh mint leaves (look in your yard if you are lucky enough)
a little fresh chives (Fresh from the garden). 

I'm lucky enough to have some herbs growing at my house-so I go outside and get some before making the dressing. 

Add the oil and vinegar to the bowl first, then the hot sauce and then the dry spices. Now cut up the fresh herbs from the garden into ultra small pieces and add to the bowl. Scissors works well. Grind the nuts-add to the bowl.

Now mix the dressing using a small wisk and coat the sides of the bowl. The idea is to coat the bowl and add the leafy vegetables first and then the rest of the salad. Then when you toss the salad it will be perfectly coated with the dressing. 

I recommend a variety of greens, but especially spinach and iceberg go well with this dressing. Don't forget the vidalia onions and the bacon bits. 

Buen Provecho.