Salad Dressings

Here are salad dressings that I plan to try soon from Michael Smith.

If a vegetable's best friend is a salad, then a salad's best friend is a tasty dressing! Easy to add, healthy flavour. Simple. Start with one part vinegar, or anything sour like lemons or limes. Then add three parts of everything else - oils, cheese, honey, miso paste or whatever. Somehow the tastes and flavours always seem to balance!

These recipes fill a standard Mason jar so you'll have plenty of leftovers. Make them once and enjoy many different salads! The leftovers should be refrigerated. If them firm up just spoon into a salad bowl and whisk until they soften. You can also cut the recipes in half or even double them and give some away.

Lemon Parmesan Dressing

A cupful of extra virgin olive oil
The juice and zest of 2 lemons
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
A heaping spoonful of Dijon mustard
Half a cup or so of grated Parmesan cheese
A few cloves of chopped garlic
A sprinkle or two of salt and peppr

Makes about 2 cupfuls.

Feel free to try: If you have some leftover bacon fat, add a spoonful for intense - but naughty - bacon flavour; it's an old short-order cook's trick!

Honey Lime Dressing

The juice and zest of 4 limes
A few heaping spoonfuls of honey
A spoonful of mustard
A cupful of olive oil
A sprinkle or two of salt and pepper

Feel free to try: For another citrus flavour, replace the 4 limes with 2 lemons. Try tossing some mandarin orange segments or shredded coconut into the salad too. A handful of chopped mint adds a nice touch.

Spicy Asian Dressing

This brightly flavoured dressing doesn't include any oil and is most often used for flavouring vegetables, not greens. For a spicy treat, toss some with bean sprouts, sliced cucumbers and sliced red onions. I also love it as a quick marinade for grilling fish.

A cup or so of rice wine vinegar
2 heaping spoonfuls of Thai chili garlic sauce
2 heaping spoonfuls of sugar
A sprinkle or two of salt

Feel free to try: You can replace some or all of the vinegar with lime juice. For more Asian flavour, add a touch of toasted sesame oil.

Vanilla Vinaigrette

It may seem odd to flavour a vinaigrette with vanilla, but once you try it you'll know why it works so well. Vanilla mellows the sharpness of vinegar with a clean, crisp edge that's very refreshing. It's a great way to dress up simple mixed greens.

A cupful of extra virgin olive oil
Half a cup or so of white wine vinegar
2 spoonfuls of honey
A spoonful or two of pure vanilla extract
A spoonful of Dijon mustard
A sprinkel or two of salt and pepper