Cucumber Grape Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

We've been a little bit over the moon about this salad lately. Especially the vinaigrette. It was one of those things where you just throw something together to kind of complement your main dish and it ends up stealing the show!


The husband was doing steaks and we had popped a bottle of red wine....the idea of chopping red grapes into the salad struck me and we ran with it.


The best part is how simple it is. Honestly, five minutes and it's ready, and all the ingredients are things one is likely to have on hand or be easily able to use in other dishes.


Due to my haphazard way of measuring things, this is really easy to size up or down. ;)

Cucumber Grape Salad

• One handful of greens per person (we used a bag of mixed romaine and radichio, I think.)
• One sprig of green onions per person.
• A generous handful or two of quartered red grapes.
• A goodly amount of sliced and quartered cucumber. 

Toss the above into a serving bowl and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

• A clove of garlic
• 1/2 c. vinegar
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. whatever wine you're serving with dinner, or a cooking wine will do
• 1/3 c. honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

Throw the clove of garlic into a blender with one of the liquid ingredients and blend till the garlic is finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend smooth adjusting to taste. You DO want to blend the garlic first with a smaller amount of liquid, otherwise it's liable to swim around the blender pitcher and totally miss the blades. Don't ask me how I know this.... You will end up with more vinaigrette than you need for just one salad -- but trust me, you won't mind using up the leftovers! It should keep pretty well for at least two-ish weeks; just shake well to reincorporate.

The red grapes in the salad make this vinaigrette the perfect choice, and if you serve it alongside a beef dish your dinner will seem instantly gourmet.