Sieving Seeds for Supper

Although I hardly ever use store bought dressings and vinaigrette anymore, my idea of making a salad dressing is usually just combining olive oil, flax oil, balsamic vinegar, and some whole grain mustard, giving it a shake, and calling it a day. But some salads call for something a little more special. The raspberry vinaigrette from the Candle Cafe Cookbook calls for you to blend frozen (or fresh) raspberries with vinegar (I used balsamic instead of red wine) and some other ingredients, then sieve out the the seeds.


Here's what you're left with after sieving. This step reminded me of being in college, working in the soils lab. I sieved so many soil samples....



And what better way to use the vinaigrette than a simple salad welcoming in the fall fruit I love the most: pears. These are red pears over a bed of spinach leaves with toasted pecans and raspberries as garnish. A refreshingly sweet salad!