Simple Salads Part 2: Salad Dressing

Call me a snob, but I generally don’t like bottled salad dressing. (Though I have to confess when faced with a salad bar, I always go for the clumpy, white blue cheese dressing.) I don’t keep bottled dressings in my kitchen and am always silently appalled when bottled dressing comes out at a friend’s house.

The reason is simple. My mother taught me that it is just as easy to whip up salad dressing as it is to take a bottle of the prepared stuff out of the fridge.

These are the basic proportions that I use:

1/2 part Dijon mustard

1 part balsamic vinegar

3 parts olive oil

Pepper to taste

I can increase these proportions to fit any amount of dressing that I want to make whether in teaspoons, tablespoons, quarter, half, or even a cup. (If you use 1 teaspoon per part, it makes just enough for a salad for two).

This recipe can be spruced up as well. Sometimes, if I have a lot of fresh herbs around I put them in a mini chopper and then add the rest of the ingredients for an herby dressing. Also, at one point my sister gave me an excellent lemon olive oil that I used in place of extra virgin olive oil with excellent results.

For a bit of a change, I have been known replace the mustard with lemon juice, or use a different type of wine vinegar. (Recently, I’ve gotten into white balsamic vinegar, which is a bit lighter than the darker version.)

To mix, I put these ingredients into a small jar, secure the lid, and shake it until the mixture is emulsified. That’s it, easy as pie.