Surprise Banana Raspberry Vinaigrette

This raspberry vinaigrette is like no other you’ve tried. Fresh spinach and basil give it a bright green color and lemon gives it a citrusy note. But there is a secret ingredient that gives it a perfect, subtle sweetness: banana. Yes, banana! It’s not so strange if you think about it: What are some of the ingredients in your favorite green smoothie? Spinach, lemon, maybe some fresh berries and always a banana. It’s a delicious combination. We’ve just made it into a delightful light vinaigrette, perfect for dressing fresh green and fruit salads. (It’s also wonderful drizzled on roasted vegetables, chicken or fish.)

Recently, we had dinner with our dear Asheville friends and neighbors, Amy and Carmen. The meal began with a simple salad with lettuce and other veggies from their late season garden. I tried the dressing and loved it. When I asked Amy what was in it, she responded, “You tell me!” Now, normally, I’m pretty good at reverse-engineering what’s in a recipe. But the only specific flavor I could identify that night was basil. When Amy told me it was banana that gave the vinaigrette that perfect sweetness, I was stunned!

Surprise Banana Raspberry Vinaigrette has a historical backstory

Amy went on to tell this story:

“When I lived in Richmond, Virginia, there was a cozy vegetarian restaurant, Grace Place, upstairs over a small natural foods store. It was the first vegetarian restaurant in the city. It opened in the 70’s and closed in 1996. They had a signature simple salad made of fresh greens, shredded carrots and shredded red cabbage topped with a delightful and distinctly light green dressing that I adored.

Years later when I was managing a Whole Foods Market in New Orleans I hired a cook who had Grace Place on her resume and I had the opportunity to inquire about the secret ingredient to the dressing. I never got the full recipe but learned that the key ingredients were salad greens or spinach and banana blended with some of the usual vinaigrette ingredients such as olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar. With the popularity of green smoothies it comes as no surprise that it’s a stunning combo. I’ve morphed it over the years and added basil and raspberry vinegar, sometimes Meyer lemon juice.”

Ingredients for Surprise Banana Raspberry Vinaigrette

I did some further research and it turns out that the chefs at Grace Place would also throw kitchen vegetable scraps into the blender when making the dressing – whatever was available that day. So, often, cucumbers, zucchini or green and red pepper scraps would become part of the mix, slightly altering the taste and boosting the nutritional content. I encourage you to try this! But start with the ingredients that my friend Amy uses as a basic recipe:

• banana
• lemon juice
• spinach
• fresh basil
• extra virgin olive oil
• raspberry balsamic vinegar
• sea salt

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions for Surprise Banana Raspberry Vinaigrette

My suggestion is to serve this surprise banana raspberry vinaigrette on a salad of fresh lettuces, shredded carrots and shredded red cabbage, as they used to serve it at Grace Place. That’s a wonderful salad to go alongside simply roasted chicken, like this recipe for Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken with Lemons or this Middle Eastern Chicken – Glazed with Pomegranate Molasses. And this slightly sweet vinaigrette is a natural pairing with anything spicy, like this recipe for Black Bean and Chorizo Stew.

Hint: Don’t try to use a food processor to make this surprise banana raspberry vinaigrette. A food processor will chop the spinach and basil finely, but you will never get the smooth, silky bright green surprise banana raspberry vinaigrette consistency that we’re looking for. (Believe me, I’ve tried it!) Instead, use a high speed, powerful blender like a VitaMix. These blenders are expensive, but they are an investment that will last a lifetime. And they truly do make a noticeable difference in terms of super smooth sauces, soups and vinaigrettes.

Variations

The salad dressing at Grace Place was constantly changing based on what vegetables were available in the kitchen at any given time. The signature green color of the dressing would sometimes tend towards pink if the chef decided to throw in some red bell pepper scraps that day. The first time you make it, I recommend that you stick to my friend Amy’s ingredients for the base recipe. Taste it, and then feel free to experiment, adding other additions such as:

• Green or Red Bell Pepper – Start by adding ¼ of a pepper to the mix and taste.
• Cucumber – Patrons of Grace Place remember different versions of the signature dressing, but many agree that cucumber was always added. Start by adding ¼ cup of peeled cucumber to the mix.
• Substitutions – You can substitute Meyer lemon juice for regular lemon juice. Apple cider vinegar for raspberry vinegar. If you stick to the same proportion of acid to oil, you can play around with other flavors and this dressing becomes infinitely variable.

Storage

Store the surprise banana raspberry vinaigrette in a sealed container (I love these Mason-type jars) for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Do not freeze.

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