Salad dressing is probably one of the first things I started making on my own. I've never been a huge fan of bottled dressings, thinking they either too heavy or too caloric to be worthwhile. Eating a salad at a restaurant always tasted better, where the dressing was fresh. However, the dressings you get in restaurants are often incredibly caloric, using a three-to-one ration of oil to vinegar/acid. I prefer a more acidic dressing, or diluting the sharp vinegar tones with something like honey to make the dressing more well-rounded, instead of doubling or tripling the amount of olive oil involved. Once you start making your own dressing, you'll be amazed at how easy it is, and how your salads start tasting better.
Lemon Vinaigrette
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp honey/agave
Combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper and honey in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. That's it!
You can do endless variations - substitute the lemon juice for any sort of vinegar (balsamic, red wine, apple cider, sherry). You can also add in 1 tsp of mustard to the vinaigrette to give it a little more of a bit and make it a little heartier. The salt here is very important - without putting enough salt in your dressing your entire salad will be lacking in flavor. After you're done combining the ingredients, make sure you taste the dressing. If you think it's too sharp, you can add more olive oil or add a bit more honey to mellow out the flavors. Whichever flavor you chose, all you need to do each time is do two parts acid to one part extra virgin olive oil to make a healthy, bright dressing for whatever you chose to put it over.
Note: the lemon vinaigrette above also works great over seafood, such as steamed or roasted fish, or on roasted chicken to add a punch of flavor.
Lemon Vinaigrette
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp honey/agave
Combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper and honey in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. That's it!
You can do endless variations - substitute the lemon juice for any sort of vinegar (balsamic, red wine, apple cider, sherry). You can also add in 1 tsp of mustard to the vinaigrette to give it a little more of a bit and make it a little heartier. The salt here is very important - without putting enough salt in your dressing your entire salad will be lacking in flavor. After you're done combining the ingredients, make sure you taste the dressing. If you think it's too sharp, you can add more olive oil or add a bit more honey to mellow out the flavors. Whichever flavor you chose, all you need to do each time is do two parts acid to one part extra virgin olive oil to make a healthy, bright dressing for whatever you chose to put it over.
Note: the lemon vinaigrette above also works great over seafood, such as steamed or roasted fish, or on roasted chicken to add a punch of flavor.
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