Sometimes (or maybe most times) a salad is hard to get everyone to embrace at the family dinner. It just doesn't have the excitement of a baked potato dripping with butter or sour cream. But if you have the right salad dressings on hand, I find I can get everybody on board. I realize I'm not reinventing the wheel here or anything but bottled Ranch just doesn't cut it for me. Ranch is not hard to make, you pretty much have most of the ingredients on hand and while its not exactly "healthy" you don't need a lot to make your salad yummy. The vinaigrette and carrot miso dressings below do aire on the healthier side so if the ranch ingredients freak you out try the others….and they last for up to 2 weeks so you can make a big batch and have it on the ready.
Classic Ranch
- 1 cup mayonnaise (sometimes I will use low fat mayo here but generally I'm a full fat kind of gal)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon shallot, minced (optional)
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons of snipped chives (or more, they make it pretty and taste yummy)
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed (optional)
- flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- buttermilk (add to desired consistency)
Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Adjust seasoning according to taste. Let stand about 1 hour before using. Dressing keeps refrigerated from 1-2 weeks.
Carrot Miso Dressing
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of sweet white miso
- 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seed oil
- 1/3 cup safflower oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine carrots, ginger, miso and vinegar in bowl of food processor.
Add sesame and safflower oil and process until smooth. Add water to achieve desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Dressing keeps, refrigerated about one week.
Red Wine Vinegar and Shallot Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 small shallots, minced
- 1 cup good quality olive oil
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
- Flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- touch of honey, if desired
Combine vinegar, lemon juice and shallots and let stand 30 minutes until shallots soften. Whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir in a touch of honey if vinaigrette tastes too tart for your liking. Dressing improves with age so make a few days in advance for flavors to seep in and mellow. Dressing keeps, refrigerated up to 2 weeks.