Vinaigrette Dressings—Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café

Shout out to those living on the Wasatch Front in Utah:  Sage and Plow in American Fork is holding their first annual emergency preparedness fair today, Friday, October 3, from 9am to 7pm.  I will be one of the vendors there and I'd love to meet you!

 

By now you all know that I enjoy green salads almost on a daily basis.  It’s the way I was raised; it’s the way I raised my children.  I love growing lettuce in the garden with its variation in leaf color from light green to dark red to bronze with speckles and stripes.  It’s easy to tuck into between other plants and grows quickly.  And home-grown lettuce—grown properly (as opposed to what commercial growers do)—can also be quite nutritious. 

And then for most of my life I have negated much of that good nutrition with a store-bought salad dressing.  Yes, I have been embarrassed about it. 

One of my new goals has been to eliminate the commercially made salad dressings from our diet.  And I’ve been doing pretty well with it—I haven’t bought salad dressing in at least six months now.  And in order to keep everyone happy—and make sure I’m not suddenly out of salad dressing—I try to always have at least three or four choices in the refrigerator.  Ranch dressing is a standard; so is Italian.  One of the following vinaigrettes is often a third.

Basic Vinaigrette Dressing

¾ neutral oil (olive, light olive, peanut, grapeseed, etc.)

¼ cup good-tasting vinegar or lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 to ¼ teaspoon black pepper

 

Options:  Add 1 or 2 of the following:  1-2 tablespoons finely shredded cheese, 1-2 tablespoons minced herbs, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 minced shallot.

 

Balsamic Vinaigrette

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

1 large garlic clove, minced

¾ cup olive oil

 

In a small bowl, combine well the first six ingredients.  Whisk in the olive oil until the dressing is emulsified. 

 

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1 ½ cups raspberries

¼ cup peanut oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon salt

 

Add everything to a blender and blend for 30 seconds.  Pour it through a strainer to remove the raspberry seeds, if desired.

 

Options:  Add some raspberry jam for sweetness or a couple of tablespoons of plain yogurt for a creamy dressing.