You bought the most beautiful, expensive organic produce. You lovingly chopped up your kale into perfect, bite-sized pieces and arranged your sliced heirloom tomatoes to showcase their jewel-like colors. Maybe you even ever-so-meticulously shaved a nice Grana Padano over it to create that lovely magazine-spread look. And then you slathered the whole thing in a bottle of “Tuscano-inspiration-balsamic-honey-mustard-sriracha” dressing.
No. Stop it. Bottle dressing is the worst. I’m serious.
Now, that’s not to say that there are some appropriate applications for it, just not actually on your salad. More on that later.
It is my personal belief that you can make an excellent salad dressing, without all the sugar and god knows what, at home. Here is my basic recipe. Once you’ve mastered that, and believe me, it will take you three seconds, you can apply the same idea across a wide array of items already found in your fridge and pantry.
Feel free to lower or raise the quantities depending on how big your salad is.
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pour all ingredients into a small bowl. Beat with fork or small whisk until emulsified (thickened) and drizzle over salad.
Now that you have that mastered, here are some variations:
Add 1 tsp. honey and 1 tsp. mayonnaise for a honey mustard dressing.
Add 1 tbsp. grated parmesan or other hard cheese to add another level of flavor. I find that Romano and Manchego also work nicely.
Add 1 tsp. dried or fresh basil, oregano, tarragon or sage.
You can also substitute the balsamic vinegar for apple cider, red wine, white wine, sherry, or plain white vinegar. Each one brings its own flavor so you can get creative. You can also leave the mustard out as well.
Now go, make salad! I promise you’ll never buy bottled dressing again because yours will be just that good!
dispatches from a tiny kitchen 