Salad Dressing Basics

Since you all know by now, I do not believe in buying ready-to-eat food. Food comes from a farm or a garden, not a factory with workers in white coats, goggles, gloves and plastic hair caps. So a salad dressing in a bottle is a complete no-no in my kitchen.

Salad dressing is just variations to the same tried and true theme. Repeat after me: 1-2-4 as in 1 part flavoring,  2 parts acidity and 4 parts oil. Also the technique is the same: first mix the flavoring and acidity together, then introduce the oil slowly while whisking firmly to start an emulsion.

The end result should be slightly tart, full of flavor and thick enough to stick to the salad.

Also, important is to taste the dressing before you introduce the oil ensuring the balance between salt/acid/sweet is to your liking. Emulsion is a delicate balance between oil and acidity with eggs or mustard as the emulsion starter. Adding these elements after the emulsion is complete could break the emulsion, forcing you to start over again. Trust me, it has happened to me before.  

Some final notes on salads before I share some dressings.

1.  I always use my hands for tossing salads; I have more control over my actions that  way.
2. Adding the dressing right before plating the salad is the best, otherwise the lettuce gets soggy.
3. If you like you lettuce with a real crunch, set the lettuce leaves in ice water. Just make sure you dry the lettuce before you add the dressing as you spend all this time creating an emulsion it would be a waste to have it get runny again.

Honey- mustard dressing

•  ½  teaspoon honey
•  ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
•    2 teaspoons lemon juice
•   Salt and pepper to taste
•   4 teaspoons good olive oil

Toss with spring mix.

Walnut salad

•  ½ teaspoon honey
•  ½ teaspoon parsley
•  2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
•  Salt and pepper to taste
•  2 teaspoons walnut oil
•  2 teaspoons olive oil

For the salad ingredients you need spring mix, rendered bacon and walnuts.

Blanch raw walnuts for 1 minute and shock in ice water to stop the boiling process. Chop the walnuts in small pieces and roast in a 300 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. When you smell this wonderful nut aroma, they are done. Cool the nuts.

For the bacon, I mostly use the broiler section of my oven. The bacon goes on a rack with a dripping pan underneath, so the dripping are preserved for later use. (Bacon fat still rules). After the bacon is rendered well and cooled off, I tear the rashers into bite size chunks.

Toss the spring mix, rendered bacon and walnuts with the dressing and plate.