I am so happy that you have landed in my little corner of cyberspace. If you join me here, you will, hopefully, get to know a little about me. You will read my thoughts, my hopes and dreams, and see some of my favorite things. I hope you will visit often. I will try to update it regularly and hopefully you will see an improvement in the blog along the way. Thank you for stopping in to see me as I travel on this journey called "life"!













Wednesday, August 3, 2011

"Award Winning" Spicy Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

I didn't win anything this past Maple Monday when Ben's Sugar Shack held their weekly giveaway on their Facebook Page.  Did you see that post here?

I was so hoping to win some delicious Maple Syrup. 


When I saw here that Ben was holding a recipe contest for the chance to win some Maple Syrup, I was pretty excited.   Maybe this would be my chance to win! All that I had to do was come up with a recipe and email it to Ben along with a photo. Easy peasy, right?  I sure hoped so!


A few minutes in the kitchen using some of the best dressing recipes that I've tried over the last six months and combining them together with some of the best ingredients that I had available and it worked.  It was delicious!


I was notified just a little while ago that my recipe won!  
So excited!

I couldn't wait to share this with you on here.  Thanks so much, Ben!  Your awesome maple syrup was the star of the show.




Spicy Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

1/2 cup Avocado Oil with Chili*
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Ben's Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Canola Oil

Place avocado oil, cider vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard and garlic into a food processor and pulse until blended.  With the food processor running, slowly add the canola oil until emulsified. 

*Note:  If  you cannot find the Avocado Oil with chili, you can substitute plain Avocado Oil and add ground cayenne pepper to taste or if you don't like it spicy, you can replace the Avocado Oil with Chili with something mild like plain Avocado Oil or Olive Oil or even use all Canola Oil.  It's pretty versatile.  


I served this dressing drizzled over some freshly picked lettuce from my garden.  I added some chopped pear, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts to complete the salad.  Tomorrow night, the vinaigrette will serve as a marinade for some grilled pork chops.  I expect them to be even better than the salad.


This is not the end of the contests on Ben's Facebook Page.  Oh, not at all!  Maple Mondays have just gotten underway and the recipe contest has no deadline for submissions.  You all have a chance to win some wonderful of Ben's Award Winning Maple Syrup and other goodies.  The cotton candy and maple candies are crazy good, as well!  All you have to do is "like" Ben's Sugar Shack on Facebook "here".  Once you have done that,  you can win one of two ways:

1. Watch Ben's Facebook page every Monday for your chance to win Maple Monday.

2.  Submit your recipe and photo to Ben@BensMapleSyrup.com.  All recipe submissions must include a photo.  There is no limit to the number of recipes that you can submit. For each winning recipe, you will receive a pint of syrup!!  

So what are you waiting for?!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I wish you all the best on winning!


This post is being shared here with
Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday and
here with This Chick Cooks.

Miz Helen’s Country Cottage









29 comments:

  1. Waahoooo! Congrats. With this recipe you surely had to win.

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  2. You come up with the best stuff my friend! I'm so glad you won ~ this looks & sounds great. I've never seen Avocado Oil...how have I missed it??? That will be on my list to search for ASAP. Honest to goodness, real maple syrup is soooo good! I'll check out the FB page too.

    Stop by when you can ~ a giveaway is posted!

    xo
    Pat

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  3. OMG Candace!! That's great! Congratulations! It sounds delicious and I love maple syrup so I can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing your award winning receipe with us!

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  4. Congratulations! It certainly does look like a winner!

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  5. Congrats on your win, that's so exciting! The dressing sounds great:@)

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  6. No wonder you won! That dressing sounds heavenly :)

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  7. Dressing is one thing I just can not master the art of! I will definitely try this one....maybe it will be my lucky recipe!

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  8. Congrats to you! The salad looks so fabulous, it had to win!

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  9. Whoa! Crazy awesome! I love a good sweet-ish dijon dressing so I'll definitely have to try this.

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  10. Congratulations! Your dressing recipe sounds so yummy! I'd love for you to come by and show off your recipe at These Chicks Cooked Recipe Spotlight today. Have a blessed day :)
    Katie

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  11. Love this idea. I use avocado oil often (I've never had it with chili though). I'm always searching for new dressings and this one sounds great.

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  12. congrats girl! That recipe is awesome and it definitely should have won! you rock. I love this dressing and your way of using it. So delicious

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  13. Congratulations! That dressing sounds amazing! I've never tried avocado oil....

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  14. congrats, i like the vinaigrette you made out it. sure going to try them.

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  15. I love using avocado oil this looks delicious
    thank you for the email

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  16. Congratulations, Candace! That's awesome! So glad you won! Your vinaigrette sounds amazing. I never heard of avocado oil before. It sounds delicious.
    PS. I have the same Cuisinart mini chopper. don't cha love it?!

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  17. Hi Candace,
    Of course its a winner, it looks fabulous! I can't wait to try it, we will just love this recipe. Congratulations! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you again real soon! Hope you are having a great week end.
    Miz Helen

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  18. congrats great dressing and have fun at the concert

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  19. Wow, congrats on the win. This does look like a fabulous recipe.
    Blessings!

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  20. This really does look SO good!! So fun to find a new blog!

    xoxo-
    Jamielyn
    I ♥ Nap Time

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  21. Congrats Candace! Love the maple-dijon combo. Hits all the right flavor notes for me!

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  22. Congratulations! Recipe contests are such fun! I am glad I found your blog and will stop by again soon.

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  23. great recipe!! I love the use of avocado oil..thanks for sharing!!

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  24. Congrats, Candace...that does sound incredibly awesome!! :D

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  25. Woooooooo Hoooooooo!!! Congratulations, Candace! That looks like a winner to me. I'm going to give it a whirl this weekend.

    Lots of yummy love,
    Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner
    www.mawhats4dinner.com

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  26. Hope I am not too late to congratulate you. I can see why this is a winner.

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  27. Congrats!! Your recipe sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing.

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  28. I can see why this was a winning recipe, it sounds delicious.

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

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