Salad Dressings 101

Oftentimes when I tell friends that my "insert food item" is homemade I get a roll of the eye and a smirky "of course, it is". I don't mind, I know they love me. But to me, making something like breadcrumbs or salad dressing or a countless other things that are commonly purchased myself at home, is just a cost-benefit calculation. It's worth making yourself when the cost is very little effort and time and the benefits are large, the most important being quality and taste, low overall cost (monetary) and the fact that you won't be ingesting compounds that can come only from industrial manufacturing. To me, salad dressings are one of those things where it is so easy and fast to make your own, it really is not worth buying it, especially when you have beautiful fresh lettuce/greens from the farm.

I am starting my "101" series with salad dressing a) to follow up on the processing of greens in my earlier post and b) it's one of the first produce to roll off the farm in the spring.

You can dress a bowl of salad greens as simply as a splash of oil, a bit vinegar or squeeze of fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper and you can be done. And when the greens are just picked from the farm, it will be delicious. But if you want to get creative and adventurous, the possibilities are endless.

To me a perfect salad has structure, it is tossed well so every bite is evenly seasoned, has a perfect balance of sharpness from acid, salt balance, a touch of sweet, a bit of crunch and hint of richness.

Let's start with oils. The most common is olive oil, it's worth investing in a nice fragrant extra virgin olive oil. A neural oil is also good to have on hand, like canola or vegetable oil. If you feel experimental, you can try nut oils like walnut or hazelnut. Sesame oil is a must for asian salads, and a little goes a long way.

For the acid, the vinegars are again most common. My favorite is a sherry vinegar. I also always have balsamic- red and white. There are champagne and wine vinegars and rice vinegar; fruit vinegars like raspberry, or my favorite, fig. Citrus juices from lemon, lime, orange, Meyer lemon or grapefruit can be used alone or with a vinegar. Other exotic sours include tamarind and amchur (a dried mango powder) used in Indian and other eastern cooking.

Garlic, herbs- fresh or dried, shallots, scallions and other spices like grainy or dijon mustard add an extra dimension of flavor. It is important to remember to add sufficient salt and pepper since you will be seasoning the whole salad bowl. Finally honey or maple syrup can add a touch of sweetness to some dressings to balance the acid.

The general rule of thumb for oil/vinegar (acid) ratio for dressings is 3:1 but can vary depending on the type of dressing. It's very easy to adapt salad dressings to different flavors.

• A basic balsamic contains good olive oil, good balsamic vinegar, fresh garlic, chopped fresh herbs (a mix of oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme) or dried italian herbs. I add just a touch of sugar to that to make the flavors a little smooth.
• For asian twist, use a neural oil, a teaspoon or less of sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, scallions; and if you are making something substantial like a chinese chicken salad, you will want to add some garlic and fresh grated ginger. Other ingredients to experiment with are a tiny bit of miso paste or powdered wasabi- again, a little goes a long way.
• For a greek dressing, use olive oil, fresh lemon juice, fresh chopped oregano and mint, garlic and top with feta.
• Homemade ranch gets buttermilk, a little mayonnaise, good mustard (grainy and/or dijon), garlic, fresh mixed chopped herbs- blend some avocado into it and you have green goddess.
• And always, enough salt and pepper.

As you can see the possibilities are endless, you can get creative but use your judgement, taste and adjust a lot- it ain't over til it tastes great.

I use a basic technique that will work if you want to use either a blender or a jar (my preference). Start with all and any flavorings you plan to use: herbs/garlic/mustard/shallots/scallion/salt, pepper/honey/sugar/maple syrup and mix them together. Now stir (blend) in the vinegar. Last, slowly add olive oil either whisking or with blender on low. Taste to make sure all flavors are balanced and adjust as needed. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. To reuse, you will need to set the jar out at room temperature for a bit so the olive oil warms back up to liquid state and shake before using. My dressing don't usually go bad in the refrigerator for weeks and yes even months, until I use it all up. The only exceptions are though that contain egg or dairy, you will need to determine their health by using your senses: look, smell and taste.

I like a simple salad for most part, besides lettuce and other greens like arugula and mustard greens, I add only a few other items. I usually use just red onion and fresh avocados for a standard salad. If I am making a garden salad, I will add sweet peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes (only if they are from the garden or farm/farmer's market, almost never store bought). To turn that into a greek salad, omit avocados but add roasted or pickled baby beets and good kalmata olives.

Additional ingredients to top a salad are toasted nuts- walnuts, pecans, almonds, pinenuts, etc. Dried fruit such as cranberries and cherries are also nice additions. I often like to finish with cheeses like feta, goat or shaved parmesan.

There are still many more dressings and salad types one can make and I will post any special ones I make as I get to them. Below is a video demonstration of my favorite standard dressing: a maple-mustard sherry vinaigrette, using the technique described above. It has only a five ingredients (not counting salt and pepper): olive oil, sherry vinegar, grainy mustard, chopped shallots and maple syrup (a good Grade B real maple syrup). It is also very versatile, I use it for many warm salads and roasted veg. Note: you may need to view this on YouTube, there is volume but it has difficulty playing when embedded here.

This dressing will store in my fridge until I use it all up. I hope this was helpful. Thank you to Baby Tigger for shooting the video!

My next major post will be about stocking your kitchen for cooking with CSA harvests.