For Emmy, Salad Dressing 'Secrets'

It took me years to realize that I was shopping and cooking the way my mother shopped: for a family of six. But I was just one. I would buy bags and bags of wonderful fresh produce. And then tons of it would go to waste. Which made me really mad. I’d make an entire pot of spaghetti. And subsequently be stuck eating it for days! But then I figured it out, how to shop for one. How to cook for one. The waste ended. Portion sizes became reasonable. I was able to enjoy a different dish every night of the week. Finally. 

Then I stepped it up. I committed myself to spending Sunday afternoons in the kitchen prepping for the week ahead. This is a fun and restful way to spend a few hours. It gives me a chance to plan out meals for the week. It also gives me some time to experiment with and try new recipes. Or to do things I’ve always wanted to do but never carved out the time the do them. Like finding a use for the whole food i.e. what to do with broccoli stems so they don’t go to waste. Try a Table, Donkey & Stick inspired kale stem sauerkraut! Don’t get me wrong, this is not a big ordeal. I have two philosophies that I stand by in my kitchen at home: ‘less is more’ and ‘keep it simple’. I work in a tiny space. Counter space is limited. Storage is too. I tend to avoid multi-stage time consuming processes. So Sundays, once all the coffee is consumed, I put on some tunes and get organized. I chop up veggies, pop ‘em into tupperware containers, which really makes preparing lunches (mostly salads) a breeze during the week. Maybe make a vegetable broth, again reducing waste! Maybe put some leftovers to work in some improvised experimental dish. Put on a pot of soup. Just getting ready. It’s a quiet, meditative time. And an investment that pays off in the days that follow in readiness and ease.

A friend recently asked me about my salad dressing secrets which really tickled me because I LOVE making my own dressings. And they are super easy. I make a lot of salads and I think of them in parts: the base (greens, beans, potatoes or pastas etc); proteins; fruits and veggies; toppings; and dressings. For dressings there are some essential ingredients which I keep on hand. And there are no surprises here. It’s the simplest of toolkits. I admit that I really don’t measure much, I just kind of eyeball stuff. Basically I start with 2 parts oil and one part acid, adding seasoning to taste. Acidity sources such as juice from lemon, lime and orange and vinegar and tomatoes. Also, I tend to make dressing ‘fresh to order’ - in other words one serving at a time. I just mix the ingredients in a little shakeable container a few hours before I’m going to dress my salad. I do like the dressing to have time to steep. 

Key Ingredients On Hand:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Red Wine Vinegar
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Rice Vinegar (my favorite)
• Sesame Oil (I like Toasted)
• Sriracha Sauce
• Soy Sauce
• Dijon Mustard
• Ground Cumin
• Fresh Garlic
• Fresh Lemon 
• Salt & Pepper

In the summer sometimes I’ll add mint or basil to my stash of ingredients.

That’s it. That’s what I use. I rarely make a mayo or creamy dressing. And there’s only one dressing that I buy, Newman’s Own Parmesan & Roasted Garlic because it is the best thing in the whole wide world. Okay, once I year I might buy Girard’s Champagne dressing for potato salad. Fine, there’s a Green Goddess dressing that I love too but I don’t remember the brand and I’d really rather learn to make my own so now I have a goal for myself, thanks Emmy! I’m going to try Ina Garten’s Basil Green Goddess dressing.

My favorite salad dressing to make is just Olive Oil, Rice Vinegar and fresh juice from a lemon. A little salt and pepper. That’s it. So clean, fresh and simple. I love it.

To take that one up a notch I mince some garlic and drop it in that mix. I LOVE garlic in salads. I love the pungency. In some of my mom’s cookbooks from the 60’s a lot of recipes begin with “rub a wooden salad bowl with a glove of garlic” which inspired me to do my own take on that which is to rub celery or carrots with garlic (letting them sit in a baggy) hours before adding them to a salad, reserving the garlic for another use. It just gives a more subtle flavor in the salad. Another way to tweak this dressing is to add a splash of Sriracha sauce. I have found mixing in just a little bit of avocado will thicken up the dressing nicely and add a creamy texture.

My next favorite is what I call Spicy Asian Dressing. It is Olive Oil, Rice Vinegar, Toasted Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce, Sriracha Sauce and salt & pepper.  Feta is a salad topping that I love to combine with this spicy dressing.

I tend to reserve Apple Cider Vinegar for salads that have more beans and onions than, say greens or if there's a veggie that needs help breaking down like cabbage. Balsamic I tend to favor when it's tomato season or of course if I have a yummy cheese like mozzarella hanging out on my salad. I'll lean towards adding dijon and cumin if I have white beans, eggs or potatoes in the salad.