Summer Chive Toasted Pine Nut Vinaigrette
Chives are incredibly flavorful right now!
They’re everywhere, mature and add such life to simple dishes.
I was inspired to create this Summer Chive Toasted Pine Nut Vinaigrette the other night for a friend.
We drizzled it over some freshly steamed organic veggies.
Coveted pine nuts, toasted to a golden crisp, get pounded in the mortar with fresh garlic and the assistance of mineral salt. Whisk all that gritty lusciousness together with lemon, good quality white wine vinegar, lively freshly snipped chives and slowly drizzle in fruity olive oil.
This is a wonderful vinaigrette to drizzle on salads, grilled beans, steamed vegetables, fish, grilled meats or roasted cauliflower.
“This is a delicious recipe you can make in advance and use in a pinch. Delicious!”
Summer Chive Toasted Pine Nut Vinaigrette
Ingredients
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 clove garlic, chopped smal
1 tsp high mineral sea salt
1/4 cup chives
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons good quality white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation
On medium heat in a small skillet, toast pine nuts until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
Place pine nuts, garlic and salt in a mortar and pound with the pestle until rough paste forms. Transfer this into a 3 to 4-quart bowl and add the lemon juice, white wine vinegar, chives and black pepper.
Whisking the ingredients constantly, add the olive oil in a slow stream to incorporate all ingredients together.
What are Chives?
Chives are a perennial plant related to the onion, with purple-pink flowers and dense tufts of long leaves used as a culinary herb. They’re super easy to grow in our Colorado climate and are generally repulsive to insects due to their sulfur compounds. But, their flowers attract bees and that’s a very good thing because I love bees! If you find you’ve got excess chives on hand, just freeze the excess and save the herb for your next dish.
You may have seen ‘Chive Scapes’ at a Farmers’ Market; these beautifully shaped greens are ideal for use as a garnish on a variety of dishes. Chives are also one of the “fines herbes” of French cuisine. Fines herbes includes chives, tarragon, chervil and/or parsley.