Well Dressed - Salad Dressing for everyday

In class this week, we spent time reading labels of popular salad dressings, and well, we found some rather disturbing number ingredients that we didn't want in our food , let alone plenty of ingredients that we had no idea what they even were. So it's time that we think about taking control of what we put in our bodies. We have become accustomed to grabbing a bottle off the shelf at the grocery store not thinking about what is put in that bottle to make it stable enough to sit on the shelf for months on end without spoiling. We have it in our power to make wonderfully tasting dressings with ingredients our great great grandparents would recognize as food and we know is healthy to eat.

I work in one of Portland's select fine dining restaurants and I see them every week making batches of different dressing for our varied designer salads we offer our customers. All with fresh ingredient, each one unique to the salad it will be placed on. One would think you need special equipment or skills to produce such dressings, but in reality salad dressing are very simple to produce and once you get used to some basic recipes they become allot of fun to tweak and alter to fit your tastes.

So here are two that I use all the time and you will always find in my frig.

Greek Dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
Splash of lemon juice to taste

For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Still whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta and olives and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Uses for the Greek Dressing:

Traditional Greek salad: Cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, olives and feta cheese

Chopped salad: Kale, tomatoes, green onions, olives, bell pepper  and feta cheese

In a pinch, this is a great go to dressing if all you have is a bag salad and a chopped up tomato too

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slaw Dressing (Kale salad or Oriental Cabbage Salad)

1 c Mayonnaise or Olive oil

5 packet Stevia or other sugar replacement to taste

1/3 c or more Rice Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

Whip all ingredients together and adjust sweetener, salt or pepper to taste. Also adjust amount of vinegar to desired thickness.

  

Uses for Slaw Dressing:
Oriental Chicken Salad: Chopped cabbage, grated carrot, sliced radish, green onions, snow peas, toasted almonds, diced cooked chicken, mandarin orange sections (I use the version of the dressing made with oil for this salad)
Kale slaw: Chopped kale, finely shaved cabbage, grated carrots, red onion, sliced radishes, finely chopped cauliflower and broccoli, toasted nuts (prefered pecans) 
Coleslaw: use a  batch of bagged coleslaw mix or your favorite combination of vegetables
For the kale slaw and coleslaw I use the mayonnaise based version