Make Your Own Salad Dressing! October 3, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , trackbackThis post isn’t a recipe as such, just a few hints on making your own salad dressing! It’s very easy – just think of oil and vinegar! You need some oil – olive oil, or sesame, or grapeseed, or sunflower, whatever you have in your kitchen. Olive oil is the most distinct, so it will make a stronger-tasting dressing, which tends to work better with stronger-tasting lettuce like romaine (not iceberg). Then you need some vinegar. In reality, you just need an acid – lemon or lime juice works great, but you can also use orange or grapefruit juice, or any type of vinegar you have – apple cider or balsamic will make a strong-tasting dressing, but balanced with oil, it is great. You want roughly equal amounts of oil and vinegar (for example 1/4 cup), but you can combine two acids (such as 1/8 cup of plain white vinegar and 1/8 cup lemon juice) to make up the amount you need. I usually pour all the oil and vinegar into a small glass jar with a lid, and put the lid on and shake the heck out of it. Once it’s nicely mixed (emulsified), then you just need a few more flavours. You can try any of these (but not all!):
- garlic (cloves if you’ve got ‘em, chopped finely or crushed, or just use garlic powder)
- mustard (a nice dijon or “bold and spicy” mustard works great)
- salt (best is sea salt)
- pepper (black or white)
- oregano, basil, parsley or other dried green leafy spice
- a spice combo, such as Thai (look for these at the grocery store)
- soya sauce (or worchestershire sauce, just a little)
- dried soup mix (like onion soup mix)
- chili powder or cayenne pepper (just a little!)
- whatever else comes to mind. Look at the ingredients of your favourite dressing (the ones that aren’t chemicals) and just copy the recipe, so to speak.
Remember that a little goes a long way, and make sure you taste it as you go! Creamy dressings can be made in the blender… but don’t make too much, ’cause they won’t keep very long in the fridge (a few days would be okay). There’s no preservatives or chemicals! 
Have fun experimenting!
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