Homemade Salad Dressings

[007bond-jb]

One of my favorites comes from my oldest daughter:

5 to 10 toes of garlic

1 tsp salt

1lb feta cheese or more

EVO as needed

crush peeled garlic in a morter with salt put garlic & crumbled feta

into a food processor add EVO until you get catsup like consitancy add some cracked pepper if you like.

Everyone eating this should not go around people who didn't for a day or so

Edited October 17, 2006 by 007bond-jb (log)

[boar_d_laze]

Here's a really retro Green Goddess

Ingredients:

1 C mayonnaise

1 C sour cream

3 tbs white wine vinegar

3 tbs coarsely chopped fresh parsley

3 tbs coarsely chopped fresh tarragon, or 1-1/2 tbs dried

3 tbs coarsely chopped green onion tops

1 coarsely chopped shallot

2 cl garlic, coarse chopped

1 tsp Morton kosher salt

4 fillet of drained anchovies, or 1 tbs anchovy paste

Several turns of fresh, coarse ground pepper

Technique:

Dump everything in a blender, and pulse until coarsely chopped items are processed to "flecks." Allow to stand in the refrigerator at least 1 hour for flavors to marry.

Rich

[weinoo]

I was wondering what people dress their salads with, when making a salad and using a homemade dressing?

 

Obviously, different salads call for different dressings. Last night, I made a simple salad of romaine leaves, cherry tomatoes (which were actually quite sweet), cucumber and Haas avocado.

 

I derssed it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and Spectrum's "Organic Golden Modena Italian vinegar." Salt and pepper, of course. And then I used my hands to smash up some of the avocado and incorporate it into the "dressing." I really like to do this, as it adds a rich creaminess. It was quite tasty.

 

And you?

[nonkeyman]

That sounds great and yummy!

 

I like doing a warmed Guanciale and sherry vinaigrette with some shallot and fresh herb. It taste great and goes great with bitter greens. The salt really cuts the bitterness. It can also go on a more sweet salad as well.

[Darienne]

For a regular salad for two...that's us every second night pretty much...I would do the following:  2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, big dash of Lea & Perrins, dollop of chopped garlic and salt and pepper.  And on the salad itself: parsley and mint.  Not fancy, but in this household it's traditional.

 

[nonkeyman]

2 minutes ago, Darienne said:

For a regular salad for two...that's us every second night pretty much...I would do the following:  2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, big dash of Lea & Perrins, dollop of chopped garlic and salt and pepper.  And on the salad itself: parsley and mint.  Not fancy, but in this household it's traditional.

 

I love mint in salad dressings! I think it sounds like a great tradition.

[FauxPas]

Fresh tomato vinaigrette - grated or puréed tomato, red or white wine vinegar, garlic, some herbs, oil. Can be sweetened. Salt to taste, etc. 

 

Citrus vinaigrette - fresh orange or red grapefruit juice, white wine vinegar, honey, garlic, herb of choice, oil. Can be spiced with a bit of heat. 

 

Fresh berry or fruit vinaigrette - crushed and strained berries or puréed fruit (mango, eg), white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, oil, herb(s) of choice, sugar or honey, maybe lemon or lime juice, etc.

 

Occasionally, I make blue cheese dressing with LOTS of blue cheese, sour cream or yogurt or buttermilk, mayo.    

[suzilightning]

Green goddess

Just have been making a red French dressing I like

My great grandmother's cooked dressing for coleslaw

[Nauticus]

My favorite is just the classic take on Greek salad dressing - though not authentic, it still incites the flavour profiles of Greek cooking.

 

Grind in a mortar and pestle two cloves of garlic, three peppercorns, a sprinkle of salt, fresh rosemary and Greek oregano, and one lemon, zested. Add a splash of olive oil, a dollup of grey mustard, and the juice of one lemon and mix together until emulsified. Then let it sit in the fridge for about an hour, covered, until ready to use. Just before use, take it out for about 10 minutes and stir, and spoon lightly over your veggie salads (favorite of mine is cucumber, tomato, red onion, green and red bell pepper, topped with quality feta cheese). 

[scubadoo97]

I just made a dressing of a mix of citrus, orange, lemon, lime juice and zest along with apple cider vinegar, a shot of mustard, a small diced onion and a mix of olive and grape seed oil to go over cooked and drained black eyed peas

[FrogPrincesse]

What I like is very simple. It's typically olive oil + red wine vinegar or olive oil + sherry vinegar. Sometimes I add a bit of sliced shallots, chives, or basil in summer. Always salt & pepper of course.

For bitter greens like endive, I like to add some Dijon mustard and emulsify the dressing.

In summer, I really like olive oil + lemon juice.

For salads with nuts, I like to use an oil that corresponds to the nut, almond or hazelnut, etc. I usually don't go 100%, I will do maybe 1/2 or 2/3 olive oil and the rest with the nut oil (depending on its richness).

[Thanks for the Crepes]

As was mentioned, different salads call for different dressings.

 

I don't use bottled dressings anymore, as they always manage to taste stale to me, even when freshly opened.

 

When I'm feeling ambitious salad-wise, I like to make homemade thousand island with plenty of finely chopped hard boiled egg or old-fashioned green goddess for a nice chef's salad. I like a warm bacon vinaigrette with cooked onion and a little sugar, using the bacon fat and fond for a spinach or leaf lettuce salad. I love lemon tahini on leaf lettuce or romaine. A nice spring salad dressing is equal parts oil, vinegar, sugar or honey, and soy sauce for leaf lettuce with sliced strawberries. I've made a dressing I really like several times this fall for romaine and chopped apples with white vinegar, oil, salt and pomegranate molasses. Just tonight I dressed some romaine with oil, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. I toss this first and then add some grated parm and give it another toss.

 

I dislike commercial ranch, and my one attempt to make it with buttermilk turned out thin and disappointing although it was still better than bottled. If anyone has a recipe/method for making a good ranch, please let's hear it.

 

@suzilightningI probably won't be the only one interested to hear about how you make your red french dressing, if you care to share.

[weedy]

my basic dressing:

 

the vinegar choice of the day

dash of worcester sauce

dash of agave syrup or honey

1/2 teaspoon-ish of dijon mustard

 

whisk together

 

then whisk in 2-3 times that volume of grape seed or olive oil

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, suzilightning said:

Green goddess

Just have been making a red French dressing I like

My great grandmother's cooked dressing for coleslaw

 

I haven't had green goddess in ages and I've been pining for it.  In fact I rechecked the Joy of Cooking green goddess recipe two days ago.  For some reason green goddess is no longer commercially available in these parts.  Not since the '70's or '80's.  Though I think Kraft still makes it.

 

My most common salad dressing is to pour olive oil, vinegar, and salt liberally over whatever it is I wish to dress.

 

@suzilightning What is your green goddess recipe?

 

 

[nonkeyman]

14 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I haven't had green goddess in ages and I've been pining for it.  In fact I rechecked the Joy of Cooking green goddess recipe two days ago.  For some reason green goddess is no longer commercially available in these parts.  Not since the '70's or '80's.  Though I think Kraft still makes it.

 

My most common salad dressing is to pour olive oil, vinegar, and salt liberally over whatever it is I wish to dress.

 

@suzilightning What is your green goddess recipe?

 

 

I was just going to say the same thing! I haven't had to make it since culinary school. It is one of my favorites!

[scubadoo97]

6 hours ago, weedy said:

my basic dressing:

 

the vinegar choice of the day

dash of worcester sauce

dash of agave syrup or honey

1/2 teaspoon-ish of dijon mustard

 

whisk together

 

then whisk in 2-3 times that volume of grape seed or olive oil

 

 

Pretty much how I do it too except the Worcester which I'll have to try.  I mix mine up in little saved jars and shake 

[weinoo]

Seems like a lot of people like to use Worcestershire sauce in their salad dressings, something I've never done...I'm imagining it gives it a nice umami punch, similar to the anchovy in Caesar salad dressing?

 

Will have to give it a try. 

[suzilightning]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I haven't had green goddess in ages and I've been pining for it.  In fact I rechecked the Joy of Cooking green goddess recipe two days ago.  For some reason green goddess is no longer commercially available in these parts.  Not since the '70's or '80's.  Though I think Kraft still makes it.

 

My most common salad dressing is to pour olive oil, vinegar, and salt liberally over whatever it is I wish to dress.

 

@suzilightning What is your green goddess recipe?

 

 

It's in Recipe gullet.....

[suzilightning]

8 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

@suzilightningI probably won't be the only one interested to hear about how you make your red french dressing, if you care to share.

Will do when I get back home later...

[quiet1]

My housemate likes to dress thinly sliced cucumbers with sour cream mixed with a generous helping of Penzey's Turkish seasoning, which the website lists as: salt, garlic, cumin, Tellicherry black pepper, Turkish oregano, sweet paprika, sumac, cayenne red pepper and cilantro - sometimes he thins it with a touch of olive oil, depends on the sour cream. I keep meaning to play with it sometime as it is a different flavor profile to the usual Greek-ish thing I tend to do. He doesn't care for fresh tomato, but I think the dressing would work well on a combination of cucumber, tomato, fresh onion also, especially with properly ripe and sweet tomatoes.

[Shelby]

14 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

As was mentioned, different salads call for different dressings.

 

I don't use bottled dressings anymore, as they always manage to taste stale to me, even when freshly opened.

 

When I'm feeling ambitious salad-wise, I like to make homemade thousand island with plenty of finely chopped hard boiled egg or old-fashioned green goddess for a nice chef's salad. I like a warm bacon vinaigrette with cooked onion and a little sugar, using the bacon fat and fond for a spinach or leaf lettuce salad. I love lemon tahini on leaf lettuce or romaine. A nice spring salad dressing is equal parts oil, vinegar, sugar or honey, and soy sauce for leaf lettuce with sliced strawberries. I've made a dressing I really like several times this fall for romaine and chopped apples with white vinegar, oil, salt and pomegranate molasses. Just tonight I dressed some romaine with oil, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. I toss this first and then add some grated parm and give it another toss.

 

I dislike commercial ranch, and my one attempt to make it with buttermilk turned out thin and disappointing although it was still better than bottled. If anyone has a recipe/method for making a good ranch, please let's hear it.

 

@suzilightningI probably won't be the only one interested to hear about how you make your red french dressing, if you care to share.

I'm with you on the bottled dressing.  It always has an off taste to me.  I use it once in a while when I'm too lazy to make dressing, though.

 

I make ranch a lot. I start out with about a cup of homemade mayo in a mason jar.  I then add finely diced chive, dill, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper.  To that I add buttermilk, a little at a time, shaking the jar after each add, making sure not to add too much so it doesn't get too runny.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, suzilightning said:

It's in Recipe gullet.....

 

Interesting.  Not quite the same but similar to the batch of Peruvian green sauce I've been working my way through.  And since I put the Peruvian green sauce on salad, I suppose Peruvian green sauce counts as salad dressing.

 

Thanks!

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Just now, quiet1 said:

My housemate likes to dress thinly sliced cucumbers with sour cream [...].

That reminds me that with cucumbers, I like to do a yoghurt & lemon juice dressing, with a ton of black pepper, and some fresh mint. It's another dressing I enjoy in the summer.

[Beebs]

Anchovy vinaigrette.  Essentially caesar dressing without the egg/mayo.  Sometimes I'll do a vegan version (heh!) and use nutritional yeast & tahini/ground sesame in place of the anchovy & Worcestershire. 

[TicTac]

Smoked tomato vinaigrette.