Vinaigrette 101

Once upon time there was a lovely fresh young olive oil and a handsome aged vinegar. The two were destined to become a pair. And so it was, when they met, flirted and were whisked up together, that a vinaigrette was born.

I started experimenting with years ago. It’s such a simple yet very satisfying thing to make.

And it’s very impressive to friends and family. You can turn an average salad into a gourmet salad with the flick of a finger (with some simple guidelines in your head).

Once you have the basic ingredients in your fridge and pantry, it’s a snap to do anytime.

There are two basic ways to dress your salad. First there is vinaigrette dressing which is; oil and vinegar based; or a creamy dressing that is usually mayonnaise based. Creamy dressings sometimes use sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk to add creaminess as well.

For vinaigrettes you have 3 parts oil to 1 part an acid (i.e., lemon juice, vinegar), salt/pepper and then any other fun ingredients you want to add in to give it the flavor you want.

Mustards are fun to add in as well for a nice bite. I prefer to use Dijon or coarse grain mustards. Your dressings can be sweet, sour, spicy, tart, salty, mild…anything you desire. So here is a really basic vinaigrette recipe that I started out with.

Ashley’s Basic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

6 oz. olive oil

2 oz. red wine vinegar

1 T Dijon mustard

1-2 t honey
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
a fresh clove of garlic
a few fresh tarragon leaves (optional, also you can replace this with other fresh herbs if you like)

Equipment:

small mixing bowl

whisk or fork

knife

cutting board

Directions:

Whisk together oil, vinegar, and mustard.  Add pepper, salt and honey (Note: honey is optional, but it often adds a sweet taste and can remove taste of bitter lettuce). Chop tarragon leaves. Finely mince the garlic. Add to mixing bowl and whisk in. Toss with salad or drizzle on top.

Once you’ve mastered that basic idea, you can experiment with using different acids and different oils mixed together.

Fresh herbs (dried herbs will do in a pinch as long as you give it time to open up*), bottled sauces,  fruit juices  and alcohol can be then added in to enhance and sculpt the flavor you desire. 

You must take in mind, not only the ingredients in the salad, but the whole meal  itself. For example, a creamy blue cheese dressing might not go together so well with an Asian meal.

And since you can make dressings in a small quantity and they are quick to prepare, it’s easy to experiment with many different dressing ideas. I focus mostly on vinaigrettes, because that’s my personal preference for salads.

I do have a few creamy dressings that I like to use from time to time… with the right salad of course.  But that will be for a future blog posting.

Next time on my blog: a pinch or a pound and the great salt debate.

*when using dried herbs in a dressing, you should put them in at the beginning of the recipe to give them time to soften up and refresh their flavor. Also, you would use a little less of the dried herbs than the fresh. The ratio for dried herbs to fresh is 1 to 3. But I strongly suggest using fresh herbs.