Need tasty dressing for salad

[georgevan]

salads can get a little boring sometimes. Need a tasty idea to add some flavor.

 

[GinnyPNW]

I'm not sure what you are looking for, I keep the usual suspects around Thousand Island, Ranch, Green Goddess and a selection of vinaigrettes, all homemade. Once you go homemade, it is difficult to go back to store bought. Here's a favorite we like too...

Curried dressing
2 tablespoons fruit Chutney (mango or peach are good)
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
3 to 4 tablespoons half-and-half

Mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade. Taste for seasoning. The curry flavor should just bite or its flavor can be lost on the salad.

 

[taxlady]

If the salads are getting boring, maybe some extra ingredients to the salad would help.

I like to add:

• Different kinds of lettuce, e.g., Boston lettuce and romaine lettuce or curly lettuce
• Leaves from greens, like chard or sorrel
• Toasted pumpkin seeds or coarsely chopped pecans
• A few frozen berries (they thaw quite quickly, when separated and added to the salad)
• Frozen baby peas, uncooked
• Crumbles of Feta or small chunks soft goat cheese
• Thinly sliced red onion, about 1/4 onion in a salad for 2-3 people
• Thinly sliced or shredded cabbage
• Small pieces of garlic scapes when they are in season

I don't add all of those at once. I vary what the extras are on any given day. That way the salads are always different. I'm sure you can think of other things to enhance and vary the salads. Just let your imagination go and try it out (don't add too much on the first try).

 

[taxlady]

Do you find your salad dressings boring? What kind are you bored with?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

salads can get a little boring sometimes...

You sound like Himself! His complaint is all that chewing, so little satisfaction. I don't agree, so I keep making them because I like them, and I'm the cook.

If your salad is just iceberg lettuce and some cut up tomato, that's boring. I often mix several greens selecting from what I have on hand. That can include iceberg, romaine, baby spinach, arugula, spring blend (those last three from clam shell tubs) as the base, then top with various veggies. Depending on what I have on hand, I can pick from corn kernels, carrots, cucumber, celery, beets, tomatoes, raw mushrooms, snow peas, scallions, red onion...those last two are for Himself's salads only. I'll even use fruits sometimes - blueberries and cherries are good. Roasted pear is great, especially if you add something a little salty like prosciutto. Sometimes I raid my jars and cans for toppings like black or green "salad" olives, chick peas (garbanzo beans), black or any other bean. We often sprinkle sunflower seed kernels on our salads, but sometimes I'll use walnuts or pistachios. If I want to turn the salad into the main dish, I'll include leftover chicken, ham, roast beef, canned tuna (get the good stuff), hard cooked eggs. You can add crunch with toppings like croutons (homemade are wonderful, and easy to make) or tortilla strips.

Sorry for waxing poetic about salads for so long. As you can see, they hardly need to be boring. It's just that it takes a bit of time to make something fancy.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I just realized that the title of your thread asked for salad dressings. And here I am giving you a ton of salad ingredients options. Sorry.

When I make homemade dressing, I start with the basics from this Sara Moulton dressing recipe: Sara Moulton once-a-week salad dressing

You can vary the acid or oil, mix in herbs and spices to enhance the salad ingredients, and just play with this to make it yours.

 

[dragnlaw]

ARGGHHH dog bumped my arm and erased my entire post! but aren't you all lucky. Now it is much shorter

I was agreeing with CG. I think the ingredients are more likely to be boring than the dressing. IMHO

 

[taxlady]

I just realized that the title of your thread asked for salad dressings. And here I am giving you a ton of salad ingredients options. Sorry.

When I make homemade dressing, I start with the basics from this Sara Moulton dressing recipe: Sara Moulton once-a-week salad dressing

You can vary the acid or oil, mix in herbs and spices to enhance the salad ingredients, and just play with this to make it yours.

That is pretty much my basic vinaigrette too. If you don't put any fresh herbs or garlic, it will keep in the fridge for a very long time. If I want herbs, I usually add them directly to the salad. I mix it up in a cruet, no whisking, just shaking.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Part of a good salad is a good dtessong. That being said, the best dressing depends on the type of salad. For a Ceasar's salad, you use a classic Ceasar Salad dressing, along with croutons, anchovies, and freshly grated Parmegiani Regiano cheese. If your making a hreen salad with ham in it, a hreat dressing can be as simple as a honey-mustard mix. Adding chicken skin craclings, or bacon bits, along with sunflower seeds, or chopped walnuts is tasty. Dried cranberries raisins, or
dried blueberries go well in salads. They are also great in fruit vinegarettes, as are raspberries, and peaches/apricots. An ordinary green salad with iceburgh lettuce, sliced cucumber, cubed tomato, and celery can be made more flavorful by adding sliced radishes, mushrooms, diced onio, and any of the following dressings:
Fruit vinegarettes
Green Goddes
French
Russian
Italian
Thousand Island
Blue Cheese

Allso, fresh fruit such as sliced strawberries, cubed mellon, cubed watermellon, grapes, are all good. Meats such as pepperoni, prosciuto, ham, bacon, chicken. Salami, even cubes of bologna can make your salad more flavorful. And don't forget the many cheese options. I hope that helps.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[kb0000]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]We prefer 4:1 oil to vinegar rather than the harsher 3:1 generally used. Substitute Balsamic vinegar for all or part of the vinegar. Sometimes we use only Balsamic Glaze. [/FONT]​

 

[kb0000]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Olive oil, vinegar, and salt are almost immortal at room temperatures. There is rarely a need to refrigerate dressing unless it contains dairy.[/FONT]​

 

[GotGarlic]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Olive oil, vinegar, and salt are almost immortal at room temperatures. There is rarely a need to refrigerate dressing unless it contains dairy.[/FONT]​

Olive oil goes rancid after a period of time. How long depends on storage conditions, but it's definitely not immortal.

 

[blissful]

Sometimes we'll mix more than one dressing/sauce.


Lemon Garlic Silken Tofu dressing--just blend it.
Silken tofu 14 oz
2 cloves of garlic
2 T lemon juice


Tomato dressing:
1 quart tomato sauce or diced tomatoes
1 medium onion
ground onion powder, ground garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder
1/2 cup vinegar (apple cider vinegar is nice)
Blend until smooth.


Those two dressings are different and nice together, mr bliss says so.


Catalina Dressing, just mix

4 T maple syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
1 T plum vinegar
2 t lemon juice
2 T tomato paste
2 T tahini (optional)
2 T miso paste
1 t sweet paprika
1/4 t chili powder
1/8 t celery seed
1/4 t ground mustard
1 t onion powder
2 T onion flakes
1 t garlic
salt and pepper to taste


Maple Mustard sauce/dressing (I doubled this to make a cup)
In a sauce pan:
3/4 t corn starch
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup ac vinegar
1 T soy sauce
(2 T tahini paste/sauce)
2 t ground mustard
1/4 t sweet paprika
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
(cayenne pepper to taste)
Bring to a boil, then cool and store in the refrigerator.


Lemon Ginger Green Goddess Dressing (one pint)
1/2 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 cup packed parsley leaves
(1 avocado) I subbed romaine leaves to give it more body and no fats.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup garlic (I used 3 big cloves)
1/2 cup green onions
1/4 cup oat milk or other milk
2 T ac vinegar
2 T fresh ginger
1/2 t lemon zest
1 T miso paste
1 t black pepper
Process this in a food processor or blender. Very strong flavored.


Strawberry vinaigrette for fruit or veg salads (1 cup)
1/2 cup strawberries
Juice from one lemon and zest
1 T honey or maple syrup
2 t dijon mustard
2 T water
1/4 t vanilla
S&P to taste, blend in a blender.


Sometimes it's just nice to have some variety of choices.