5-Minute Homemade Salad Dressing
Dressing can make or break a beautiful salad. Bottled salad dressing just doesn't taste as good as homemade and the packaging, shipping, and food waste (who doesn't have a few abandoned expired bottles of dressing at the back of the fridge?) is simply not a sustainable idea. The solution? 5-minute homemade salad dressing with ingredients you probably already have around the kitchen.
5-Minute Champagne Vinaigrette:
This recipe is the perfect amount for one family-sized salad. Since it only takes 5 minutes it's easy to whip up a fresh new batch each time. If you do have some left to refrigerate, just allow it to come to room temperature before serving.
3 TBSP Olive Oil
2 TBSP Champagne or White Wine Vinegar
1 TBSP Dijon Mustard
1 TBSP Honey
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a mason jar with a lid and shake vigorously until emulsified.
Zero-waste tip: If you have a nearly empty jar of Dijon mustard, skip the mason jar and mix the ingredients directly in the mustard jar to use every last drop of mustard in the jar. Remember to rinse and recycle the jar when you have finished the dressing.
5-Minute Creamy Chive Parmesan Dressing:
This recipe saves really well in the refrigerator so it makes a bit more for later. My kids like to use it as a veggie dip in their school lunch boxes.
1/2 cup mayonnaise of your choice
1/2 cup sour cream
2-3 tbsp. fresh chives finely snipped
1 clove garlic minced fine
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. parsley
1/2 cup parmesan cheese shredded
1/4 to 1/3 cup milk or cream
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk adding milk to achieve the desired consistency.
Try substituting thyme and parsley for basil or cilantro when they are in-season to change up this recipe. In Spring, finely diced garlic scapes can be a substitute for garlic. Adapted from Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen
5-Minute Ginger Sesame Citrus Dressing
1/4 cup lemon
1/4 cup orange juice freshly squeezed (one orange will do it, and zest the skin!)
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tbsp sesame oil depends on how much you love sesame oil flavour!
1-2 tsp zested orange peel
2 cloves garlic minced 1 tbsp grated ginger root or 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1-2 tsp brown sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in a mason jar with a lid, and shake until emulsified. Refrigerate for us to 1 week, shake vigorously before serving. Adapted from The Kitchen Magpie
"Salad Pairings"
5-minute Champagne Vinagrette is a great go to all purpose dressing. My all time favorite salad pairing for this dressing is a simple fall salad made from baby lettuce or mesclun mix, cranberries, diced apples, walnuts, and goat cheese. Baby kale works just as well with the fruit and nuts as the baby lettuce for a "superfood" upgrade. The trick with kale is to toss it with the dressing about 10 minutes before serving, this softens up the kale to make the texture just right for eating raw. Try replacing the fruits and nuts with these variations:
diced dried apricots, diced pears, and almonds
dried cherries, diced apples, and pecans
Summer salads pair perfectly with Creamy Chive Parmesan Dressing. At the Farmette I grow a teeny tiny cherry tomato called Matt's Wild Cherry. It is the albsolutely perfect size for salads! Try this combination on butterhead lettuce; Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, bacon and homemade croutons. Add protien to make this a full meal, works perfectly with steak, grilled chicken and hard boiled eggs.
Arugula and Asian salad greens (like mustards and pak choi) pair well with Ginger Sesame Citrus Dressing. Mandarin oranges and sesame sticks are perfect topping to accompany this dressing. Or try it as the dressing of shreadded chinese cabbage for a interesting twist on cole slaw.
Enjoy!