Commercially prepared salad dressings and marinades come with a high cost to our health, our environment, and our pocketbooks. Cooks can learn to prepare vinaigrette dressing from items commonly found in their kitchen, quickly and safely, by following these guidelines.
Safety
Never store products containing vinegar in metal containers. Vinegar can react with metals and create chemicals that are toxic to humans, as well as creating a metallic taste in the food. Obtain a clean canning or other jar with a tight fitting lid. The Tupperware Quick Shake® Container is a good choice for the home cook. It seals tightly, is dishwasher safe, and has measurements on the jar. Since homemade dressings contain no preservatives, they need to be stored under refrigeration and should be used within a week.
Procedures and Portions
Ingredients are placed in the non-reactive container and shaken. Chilling the dressing adds appeal to cold salads. If a mixture is intended as a marinade, it saves effort to mix the ingredients and the meat in a re-closable bag. Shake marinating meat about once an hour, and store it refrigerated while it marinates. Portions are simple to calculate. To create enough dressing for about 4 side salads, 2 dinner salads, or a marinade for 1 lb of meat mix about ½ cup total volume.
Ingredients
Oil and vinegar will not mix without a binder. Common binders available to the home cook are dry mustard powder, lemon juice, or lime juice. For a basic vinaigrette try equal parts distilled vinegar and olive oil, your binder, and diced fresh herbs or dried herbs, spices or spice blends. To make a healthier dressing, reduce the amount of oil and use only extra virgin olive oil. Dressings can be sweetened with sugar, honey, or artificial sweetener if necessary. Salt and pepper are common additions. Fruit juices and fruit vinegars, such as pear, make fruit flavored dressings.
Variations
- Asian vinaigrette: soy sauce, dried or fresh grated ginger, diced scallions, olive oil, and a few drops of sesame oil.
- Pineapple vinaigrette: pineapple juice, distilled vinegar, and lime juice.
- Southwest vinaigrette: Olive oil, Distilled or red wine vinegar, cumin, lime juice and fresh diced cilantro. For a spicy vinaigrette add dried chili powder.
- Italian Sun dried tomato: Snipped sun dried tomatoes (not oil pack), olive oil, balsamic or red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning blend or diced fresh basil. Reduce or omit the vinegar to make an excellent fresh pasta sauce.
- Orange spice vinaigrette: orange juice, dash of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, ground cloves, and nutmeg.
- A “bacon and tomato” salad dressing: a Tablespoon of (warm) bacon grease, mixed with mayonnaise and ketchup.
- Ranch dressing is available commercially in packets that the home cook can mix.
Catherine A. Garretson-Bilnoski - Catherine Garretson-Bilnoski has been playfully described by her husband as "having a tendency to over-research", which she denies by ...
