Making your own salad dressings at home is fun and easy, with the added bonus that you are able to control what goes into them. Most commercial dressings are loaded with preservatives, fat and sodium and were made sometime in the distant past. With the high price of produce being what it is, don’t your fresh salads deserve fresh dressing too? The following tips will help you get started.
One of the easiest dressings to make is vinaigrette, which is a simple oil and vinegar dressing that uses the standard 3:1 ratio, meaning 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Once you have mastered a basic vinaigrette, you can use it as a foundation for many other delicious dressing combinations. Here’s how:
Ingredients:
1½ cups salad oil (see note below)
½ cup white wine vinegar
1½ tsp salt (I use kosher salt)
½ tsp ground black pepper (or white pepper)
Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix for about 10 seconds or until fully combined. Serve right away, as the oil and vinegar will begin to separate as soon as you stop mixing. If you don’t have a blender, put the vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and whisk together. While whisking constantly, drizzle the oil in a little at a time to form an emulsion. When you are satisfied that the ingredients are combined, serve immediately.
Note: One of the best all-purpose salad oils is extra virgin olive oil, which adds a delicious green and fruity flavor to your dressing. Olive oil can also taste peppery or flowery. Buy by color, not by price. Bright green oils will taste more peppery while yellow oils will have a warmer, more buttery flavor. For more neutral-tasting oil, try sunflower, canola, soybean, or vegetable oils.
Tags: healthy, homemade dressings