Salad Dressings To Save Your Sorry Ass When Someone Wants a Salad at The Last Minute Because This Isn’t Their “Cheat-Day” and This Will Totally Balance The Ledger.

Posted byJimi FiloPosted inRecipesTags:, , , , , ,

What a dogshit title. Moving along…

Vinaigrette Base

If nothing else, memorize The Base Ratio below. Build it to compliment to the culture/cuisine of the meal. Salad’s usual vibe: fresh, vibrant, and seasonal. Keep that in mind and you’ll be fine.

Ingredients (The Base Ratio)

  • 3 parts fat (olive oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, etc.)
  • 1 part acid (Grape based vinegar, Rice based vinegar, lemon, lime, etc)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Emulsifier of some kind. It doesn’t take much (about 1tsp per cup) to do the job. Remember that Emulsification requires that the fat be added last and streamed in while stirring…
    • Egg yolk (raw or powdered)
    • Smashed garlic
    • Mustard
    • Mayonnaise
    • Lecithin

Flavor-Profile dressing ingredients to taste…

  • Examples (in broad brush-strokes here):
    • French: Dijon mustard, Herbs de Provence (savory, rosemary, basil, thyme, and oregano), Shallot, Champagne Vinegar, etc.
    • Eastern Europe: Mustard, Oil, Caraway, Juniper, Garlic, Onion
    • Italian: Olive Oil, Basil, Parsley, Garlic, etc.
    • Mediterranean: Olive Oil, Garlic, Oregano or Dill, Lemon, Fennel
    • East Asian: Soy, Rice Vinegar, Mirin, Ginger, Daikon Sprouts, Sesame
    • South-East Asian: Fish Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Thai Chili, Daikon Root, Garlic, Shallot, Peanut
    • Russian: Frozen Borscht (lol, idfk)

Directions

  1. Combine all except oil (fat), then stream in oil while mixing.

A couple examples below

Japanese

Basic Oil and Vinegar

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs rice vinegar
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • salt and pepper

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Ginger

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs rice vinegar
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 tbs sesame oil
  • 1 tbs grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp soy sauce

Greek

Ladolemono

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice Juice of 2 large lemons
    • The classic “Greek Salad” you get from the pizza joint typically uses red vinegar
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 garlic clove minced
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

That said, don’t think of the last minute salad as malicious compliance, take it as an opportunity to compliment the meal, maybe even elevate it.

Love and Eye-rolls, Jimi

Notes

  • Emulsification isn’t necessary. Seriously, one of the best dressings I’ve ever had was Meyer Lemon, Olive Oil with some salt and pepper. If you just shake the hell out of the mix before dressing, you’re usually going to be okay.
  • Pay attention to the actual salad ingredients when building the “profile” as well.
  • Most of the “flavor-profiles” above have some kind of emulsifier built-in.
    • You don’t need to use all of the profile ingredients at the same time.
  • The above title has happened more times that I can count, with more people than I can remember, so don’t feel personally triggered. It’s a collective summary over decades 🙂