dress it up! a quick guide to salad dressings...

a good salad dressing can make a salad or transform a bowl of steamed veggies into an exciting meal. the basic formula is: something oily + something tart + something sweet... blended. the classic vinaigrette recipe has a 1:3 ratio of tart to oily. i find that's far too much oil, so i often keep the ratio 1:1 and add other ingredients or even water to make up the volume. and that clearly leaves lots of room for experimentation... here are a few ideas i've come up with today.

creamy dill dressing
0.5 cup fresh dill weed (chopped, stems included)
0.25 cup tofu (silken or firm will do)
0.25 cup olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 clove garlic, chopped
pinch of salt and ground black pepper
1 t honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup water; or as necessary to achieve the desired consistency

orange almond dressing
juice of 0.5 orange, or 1/3 cup of orange juice
0.25 cup olive or sesame oil
0.25 inch of ginger root, chopped
1-2 t almond butter or ground almonds
1 t maple syrup
1 t grainy mustard

creamy balsamic vinaigrette
0.25 cups olive oil
0.25-0.3 cups balsamic vinegar
1-2 cloves of garlic, roasted
1 t maple syrup
1 t dijon mustard
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

see also the orange-miso dressing in my july 5th post.