If you’ve booked a party with me, you’ve probably tried my delicious lemon thyme vinaigrette dressing on a salad. It's been my go-to for years! With so many weird preservatives and gums added into products these days, I've completely laid off purchasing store bought dressings. Once you learn how to make your own, you’ll likely never go back.
With endless ways of customizing, and a few good staples in your home, making salad dressing is fun, easy, clean and fresh.
THE BASICS! The rule of thumb is ⅓ acid, ⅔ oil. Then you’ll need the 2 binder: Honey & Mustard (don't worry, mustard hater… you can't taste it, but it's necessary) You’ll need salt and pepper, because like everything else, you’ve got to season your dressing to bring out the flavors, and i season the actual salad as well, but do you…
Choose your acid: Lemon juice, lime juice, yuzu (asian citrus), vinegars (balsamic, champagne, white or red wine, apple cider) to name a few.
Choose your Oil: I stick to oils that have neutral flavors, Olive oil (while the label says its great for dressings) really overpowers the flavor, so I stick to Grapeseed, Safflower, Sunflower or Avocado Oil.
The Emulsifiers (NON-NEGOTIABLE!) :
1-2 tbl honey
1-2 tbl mustard (i rarely use yellow mustard, usually stone ground or dijon, but they’re all great)
Then the fun part..
Adding in fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, basil. Adding things like minced shallots, red onion, or chopped garlic only elevates your dressing, so go HAM!
Here's my favorite recipe:
1 clove garlic
2 tbl fresh thyme
⅓ cup lemon juice
2 tbl honey
1 tbl dijon mustard + 1 tbl stone ground mustard
Big pinch salt & pepper
Throw everything in a mason jar and shake the crap out of it! The honey and mustard act as the emulsifier and help combine everything to be smooth and creamy. ENJOY!
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