Salad Dressing

By KatKD

Ingredients

• Basic:
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2-3 T white or red wine vinegar (start with 2 – the traditional 2:1 oil: vinegar ratio)
• ½ t salt
• 1 packet Splenda sweetener
• Dash white or black pepper

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

Whirl in your mini-processor or beat vigorously with a whisk. Taste and adjust – maybe more vinegar, maybe more oil, maybe just a little water; salt, sweetener? Use your dressing like this, or…

Add your choice:
2 t Dijon mustard and 2 t honey
Fresh herbs – chives, basil, rosemary, oregano, tarragon, thyme, finely minced if whisking, torn if whirling
Dried herbs – 1 t Herbes de Provence or Fines Herbes
1-2 cloves roasted or fresh garlic, finely minced if whisking
Sundried tomatoes, finely minced if whisking, rough chopped if whirling
Shallots, scallions, sweet onion, finely minced if whisking, diced if whirling

Whirl or whisk again and taste.


Make Balsamic Vinaigrette:
Use the Basic recipe, substituting Balsamic vinegar. Normally, there won’t be any additions. However, if desired, add herbs, either dried or fresh.

Make Lemon Vinaigrette:
Refer to the Basic recipe, but use 1 ½ T of fresh lemon juice instead of vinegar. And use about ½ packet Splenda or ½ t measurable Splenda. Then add ½ t Dijon mustard, 1 clove garlic, finely minced, and ½ t fresh thyme leaves. (And, try this: substitute ½ T truffle oil and 1 ½ T macadamia nut oil for 2 T olive oil – very yummy!)

Use that leftover garlic red pepper sauce (see the seafood section):
Refer to the Basic recipe, but reduce the oil to 3 T and use 1-2 T white balsamic vinegar. Add the remaining ingredients as listed and the leftover garlic red pepper sauce. Whirl or whisk. Taste and adjust as needed to suit your taste.

Experiment:
Use flavored vinegars, such as raspberry, pear, or sherry vinegar.
Use a mixture of oils, such as macadamia nut, truffle, or walnut – just substitute one of these for 1 or 2 T.

Make your own flavored vinegars:
Use a small wide mouth jar, such as a cleaned refrigerated salad dressing jar. Add 1 6-oz package of red raspberries, top with white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar and put on the lid. Let this sit on your counter for several days – you will see the color change. Strain to use. Or put in several sprigs of tarragon instead. Or a combination of herbs, such as basil, tarragon, thyme – your choice.