For those keeping track of which Simply in Season recipes I’m making, I’m counting this towards the “Spring Greens Salad” recipe, which is a great template for salad. It suggests starting with 8 cups of leaf lettuce, baby spinach, or other salad greens, gives a list of potential toppings (note: I’m quite disappointed that mushrooms weren’t included), and 5 dressing recipes.
Why am I making a spring salad in winter? I’m glad you asked. Recently I discovered this cool company that lets you order online, and then they go and collect vegetables/fruit/whatnot from local growers. Kind of like a farmer’s market that delivers. I received my very first delivery today at work, which was pretty fun. One of the things I received was hydroponic lettuce from a local grower, Mud Lake Farm.
And since DH is making a pork roast and sweet potatoes in his new smoker (early Christmas present), I decided to kill time while we were waiting by making homemade dressing.
Normally my idea of homemade dressing is splashing a little olive oil and white wine vinegar atop my salad. Or following the directions on the Penzeys Italian Dressing Seasoning bottle, which consists of adding the seasoning mix, oil, and vinegar. Or if I need a little more substantial dressing for frise’ or other strong-flavored greens from my CSA I’ll make sesame dressing or some other concoction from my fellow CSA members.
When I was reading Ratio last night (the popular new book by Michael Ruhlman), I noticed there was a chapter on vinaigrette. The basic ratio is 3 parts oil : 1 part vinegar. Quickly glancing at the dressing recipes under the Spring Greens Salad template, I noticed that most don’t have that much oil. Oh well. Let’s see how it turns out anyway, shall we?
The recipe from Simply in Season:
2 T Dijon mustard, 2 T red wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar since I didn’t have any on hand), 3 T olive oil, 1 T fresh lemon juice (optional; I used the fake lemon juice), salt and pepper to taste. Then it says to “combine in jar with tight-fitting lid. Shake well.” Miscellaneous salsa or other recycled jars are great for this. I happen to have a lot of half pints leftover from all the canning that I didn’t do over the summer, so that’s what I used.
The verdict: DH said, “That’s really good babe! Sweet and sour with a little zest.” I really liked it too. Oh, and the pork roast in the smoker? It’s still smoking. Good thing I made a little salad to tide us over 😉
What’s YOUR favorite dressing recipe?
This post linked to Frugal Fridays and Kitchen Tip Tuesday
My favorite is Julia Child’s recipe which is very similar to yours. I add a minced shallot, white wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, lemon juice, and s&p. It is my “go to’ dressing.
Thanks! I’ve been thinking I needed to look up a vinaigrette recipe and then I saw your link on Life as Mom… I’ll be giving this a try.
Oooh, yummy. I love homemade salad dressing!
You know, when the Dijon mustard is down to the stuff that sticks to the sides, just add all your other ingredients to the jar and shake it up. You’ll use up that list bit of Dijon–no waste!
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Yum! We love homemade dressings too… 🙂
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