Mary Bilyeu, Contributor

I love going to the Downtown Ypsilanti Farmers' Market on Tuesday afternoons! It's fairly small and not terribly crowded; so it's a wonderful opportunity to chat with the vendors and to revel in baked goods, fresh herbs, live music, and gorgeous plants, fruits and vegetables.

Last week, I bought some beautiful salad greens that also came with an extra perk: vibrant edible flowers. Why be boring with iceberg lettuce when you can have a freshly picked variety of leaves and the added bonus of a unique ingredient?

So I hardly wanted to pour plain ol' grocery store salad dressing onto such a lovely accompaniment to my dinner! And that's when I started tinkering with a little of this and a splash of that to make a light, sweet vinaigrette that was the perfect complement to the freshness of the lettuce and the twinge of zest from the flowers.

I started with the basics: oil and vinegar. From there, I simply used what I had — leftover pineapple juice, a lime waiting for a purpose in life, and a touch of hot sauce when the vinaigrette just needed a little bit of oomph.

This dressing would be ideal for any salad featuring chicken or fruit, as well, if you turn it into a meal rather than a side dish.

Good As Gold Vinaigrette

1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon balsamic vinegar (see note below)
1 tablespoon pineapple juice concentrate
juice from 1/4 lime
pinch of kosher salt
4 drops cayenne pepper sauce

Whisk together all ingredients, and drizzle over salad.

Note: Lemon balsamic vinegar is available at Fustini's Oils and Vinegars, a proud Michigan-based franchise with a store at Kerrytown. You can use 1/2 tablespoon each of balsamic vinegar and lemon juice as a substitute for the lemon balsamic vinegar.

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. She was thrilled to have her post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread named as one of the daily "Best of the Blogs" by the prestigious Food News Journal.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — on which she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Her newest feature is Frugal Floozie Friday, seeking fun and food for $5 or less ... really! Feel free to email her with questions or comments or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here.