jam on it
 
The other day I went out for lunch and with my sandwich came a simple green salad dressed in a raspberry vinaigrette. It didn't have a bold, punch-you-in-the-face pop of fresh raspberry flavor, but it had a great sweet-tart balance and it really lifted that simple green salad into something memorable. 
 
So when it came to dinner that night, I decided to try my hand at making that same salad dressing. The bummer was that I didn't have any raspberries on hand—seeing that it's October, it's to be expected. So I found the next best thing: raspberry jam. Yup, I totally jammed on this salad.
 
jammy jam
 
Adding jam to a dressing isn't that unusual— I've added marmalade to a cabbage and apple slaw with excellent results, so I knew I was onto a good thing. I love a good kick of sweet and sour and this dressing is so perfect it's addictive. Not only did I toss it with my Romaine lettuce, sun gold tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner that night, I made sure that it found its way into my salad at lunch. 
 
Now if you scroll down a bit into Gwyneth's Goop newsletter, you'll find Jamie Oliver expounding over jam jar dressings. He loves to use old jam jars to mix up vinaigrettes and so do I. In fact, because my jam jar was nearly empty, I was able to add all the ingredients into the jar and shake it up, which saved me a bit of clean-up. But Jamie is clearly missing out on the serious jam factor by not using it in his own dressings.
 
jam it on the one
 
Raspberry Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon raspberry jam
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
pinch of kosher salt
hefty grind of black pepper
 
Add all ingredients to a small lidded jar, shake, taste - adjust seasonings if necessary. Pour over salad. 

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