Salad Dressings

As a kid, my palette was very sensitive.  I hated salad dressing, and loved salad.  I still enjoy the fresh differences each morsel offers, but my taste buds have dulled.  This is a list of dressings that provide a richness to satisfy the carnivore I married, yet still let each salad ingredient shine enough for me.  All of these can be dumped in a jar and shaken or whisked in a bowl, except for My Favorite, although it might be worth a try.  I keep leftover dressing refrigerated up to a week.

My Favorite Dressing
This dressing was inspired by one I found for a pea salad by Heidi Swanson on 101 Cookbooks and takes a little more prep, but is worth it.  The original recipe, like many on the author's site, uses very high quality ingredients I just can't find at our farmer's markets or keep on hand.  I was intrigued by the creative flavors & very happy with the version I was able to achieve using what we normally have in the pantry.  In the absence of fresh green peas (which is most of the year in the Texas Panhandle) a handful of good quality frozen sweet peas thawed under cold water taste great thrown on top of a leafy green salad with this dressing.  I'd dip just about any fresh veggie or even apple slices in it.

3-4 TBS Lemon Juice (2-3 lemons juiced)
1 TBS Dry Dates (fresh or whole work & so does one fresh fig)
1 Tsp Red Chili Pepper Flakes (or one jalapeno pepper pureed)
1 TBS Dry Mint (or a few fresh leaves pureed with the pepper)

The first time I made this I didn't have any fresh ingredients except the lemon, so I soaked the dated, pepper flakes & dry mint for an hour or so while making the rest of our dinner and then milled & sieved the whole mess.  It tasted great, tangy, spicy, fresh, and yet savory without making my salad heavy with oil.  I've since used fresh ingredients and pureed it all in a blender for a thicker version.  I like both.

Ranch
1/2 Cup yogurt
1/2 Cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp of your favorite green herb (dill or parsley work well)
1 tsp dry onion or to taste (fresh white onion, green onions, leeks, or shallots are great too)
1Tbs vinegar (cider or white)
1Tbs olive oil or milk
1/4 tsp salt & pepper to taste (less if your mayo is salty)

Tahini Goddess Style Dressing
1/2 Cup Tahini
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 TBS Cider Vinegar
Juice of one Lemon
1 TBS Tamari Soy Sauce (any soy sauce will do)
2 Cloves Crushed Garlic
1 Tsp dried onion (or fresh onion to taste, green are best)
Water to thin*Tahini & Lemon form a paste, so a couple tsp of water will make the dressing incorporate & pour well.

This dressing goes particularly well with any green salad, but also pairs particularly well with avocados, potatoes, cucumbers & carrots.

Italian Vinegrette
1/3 Vinegar (Balsamic or Wine)
2/3 Olive Oil (sometimes I go a little light on this and add 1/2 & 1/2 with a little water)
1 tsp each: Basil, Oregano, Thyme
1/8 tsp each dill, rosemary or parsley, chili pepper, black pepper & salt

Miso Paprika Dressing
This dressing is divine over spinach, and has a bright red orange color.  I found the original recipe on a blog by, Susan Voisin with the sole intent of finding a way to use more miso in our diet & stumbled across this delicious combination.

1 TBS Miso
1 TBS Mayonnaise (or substitute olive oil)
3 TBS Lemon Juice (about 2 lemons juiced or use 1 lemon and 1 TBS of balsamic vinegar)
1 Clove Crushed Garlic
1/2 TBS Paprika (Smoked Paprika or Hungarian)
















 

Marinara Is Not Just a Sauce, It's a Philosophy

Time: 10 min

Recipe
28 oz of tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbs basil
1 tsp thyme
1tsp oregano
2 Tbs of Olive Oil
1 Tbs of Balsamic Vinegar or Red Wine

Saute over Medium Heat : Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and Herbs
Crush and add the Garlic.  Do not let the garlic cook to long and turn brown or your sauce will not taste good.  It's better to ditch the batch at this point and try again if your garlic overcooks.  

Once the garlic starts to smell good (it will turn off white) add the tomatoes, stir a bit to incorporate the oil and heat until it starts to bubble.  Turn down the heat and let simmer as long as you need to reach a desired consistency.  If you are using canned tomatoes, it will be ready as soon as it bubbles.
Enjoy!

Tomatoes
Ideally, fresh are the best.  There are many opinions about where and how they should be prepared.  I spent many hours helping my mother blanch, peel, and mill tomatoes for sauce the old fashioned way and I've also eaten pizza made with ketchup.  I only use fresh tomatoes if I can find ones that are ripe and organic.  Otherwise the preparation just doesn't seem worth the time because a poorly ripened tomato doesn't taste good, and since I don't live in a region known for it's tomato season I settle for canned.   Cento, Muir Glen, and Pomi brands are widely available and provide decent flavor.  However,  with a boost of ingredients one can make just about any tomato into an amazing sauce.  If you find that your canned tomatoes are to salty add a tiny extra bit of red wine or balsamic vinegar.  If they are too acidic, add a couple extra cloves of crushed garlic.  Not sweet enough, add more basil.  As far as puree vs. diced, just choose what is best for your dish.  Puree will be very thick & often salty (if you don't have a lot of time to simmer the sauce for hours this might be your best bet), just be prepared to add a little water if it's took thick to stir.  On the other end of the spectrum is diced which is good for a Pomodoro sauce, but include seeds and possibly skin.  I like to use 1/2 crushed and 1/2 pureed tomatoes.   

Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar
I buy this in bulk compromising between flavor, origin, and price.

Garlic
I use a garlic press to press fresh cloves of garlic.  I choose heads of garlic carefully looking for dents, discoloration, etc, and never keep it longer than a week or two.  Old garlic tastes strong, and not in a good way.  Many people are adept at chopping and crushing garlic with a knife.  I can't ever seem to achieve the wonderful oily version of crushed garlic with a knife alone, and my children don't like to be surprised with spicy bits.  I'm sure the minced garlic in a jar works, just try to crush it up a lot.  
 
Herbs
Fresh is awesome.  Use at least 3-4x as much as dry.  I use dry for 9-10 months out of the year.


Yield
One batch will cover one pound of pasta, two average size pizzas, or one 9x13" lasagne.   I like to make at least 2 batches at a time and freeze half.  Tomato sauce will stain most plastic containers.   I grew up freezing this in glass jars, just leave a little room at the top for expansion or there will be broken glass all over the freezer.   This method requires that you plan ahead for thawing.