spinach salad dressing

[Mr. Delicious]

My father serves a spinach salad at his restaurant that is delicious but the non-educated cooks (for lack of a more dimeaning name) have a hard time mixing the dressing. Every time any of us order it we get just oil, is there an emusifier that would help fix this or does he just need smarter cooks.

[kpzachary]

My father serves a spinach salad at his restaurant that is delicious but the non-educated cooks (for lack of a more dimeaning name) have a hard time mixing the dressing.  Every time any of us order it we get just oil, is there an emusifier that would help fix this or does he just need smarter cooks.

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MUSTARD

[deltadoc]

Hot bacon dressing made with red wine vinegar. Wilts the spinach and never has a problem mixing with the leaves!

doc

[alanamoana]

not all dressings need to be emulsified...but the cooks should learn to STIR before ladling dressing onto salads!

[cmsoulbrother]

Agreed, all you need is red wine vinegar, bacon fat and a bit of EVOO. Maybe they are not using enough vinegar. I think that due to the bitterness of the spinach, a spinach salad requires more vinegar than a standard vinaigrette...and lots of good bacon, the real kind!

[Qwerty]

There are lots of things a person could use to emulsify a dressing. As mentioned, mustard works well, as does egg yolks.

There is also something to be said for technique, as in adding the oil slowly and whisking to create the emulsion. This type of emulsion is temporary (akin to shaking the squeeze bottle) but will work.

As stated above, sounds like the cooks need to shake the bottle or stir the dressing.

[ermintrude]

MUSTARD

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I'd second this and would recommend powdered mustard for best effect. However if the mustard is no no because of taste issues then powdered lethicin would help, a large pinch if making home quantities or more for larger, this will really help emulsify things and make the emulsion more stable.

You could also try a small amount (pinch) of xanthian gum especially if you have chopped herbs or similar that need to be universally distributed. The gum will form a weak gel that will hold the herbs or whatever in suspension.

Edited July 14, 2007 by ermintrude (log)