Chimayó Vinaigrette

A cook in the early 1990s developed a dressing for the restaurant inspired by three traditional products of the area—apple cider vinegar, honey, and red chile. The resulting sweet-sour dressing has a hint of spice as well. For a change of pace, try it drizzled over the Fruit Salad (page 108) or Ensalada de Nochebuena (page 105), or over greens with sliced avocados.

¾ cup canola or vegetable oil

½ cup cider vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon ground dried New Mexican red chile

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon minced yellow onion

Makes approximately 1½ cups

Combine all ingredients in a lidded jar, cover, and shake vigorously. Alternatively, combine in a bowl and whisk together. Serve right away or refrigerate for up to 5 days.

When this salad dressing was scheduled to appear in Self magazine some years ago, the New York editors found it exceedingly picante and asked for permission to reduce the amount of chile to 1 teaspoon. If your tolerance of spice isn’t very high either, you too can start with 1 teaspoon and work up to more chile if you wish.