Essential Summer Salad Dressings

There are a couple of posts coming your way.  I have been playing with salads this summer and really want to add them to my archives.  I am starting with some essential summer salad dressing which are the building blocks for many of the dishes I have been making.  Once you have these simple recipes under control the sunny blue sky is your limit.

The first two basic vinaigrettes use the three to one oil to vinegar ratio.  I always make a larger batch than I immediately need and store the remaining dressing in the fridge for future use.  Old mustard jars work really well for making dressings.

White Wine and Wholegrain Mustard Dressing

Ingredients

• 3 parts extra virgin olive oil
• 1 part white wine or champagne vinegar
• 1/2 part wholegrain french mustard
• salt and pepper

Balsamic Dressing

• 3 parts extra virgin olive
• 1 part balsamic vinegar. I love the flavored ones from Olivetti such as Fig, or Cranberry and Pear
• salt and pepper
• a little wholegrain or regular french mustard to emulsify

Orange Balsamic Dressing

• 1 part white wine or white balsamic vinegar, I love the Olivetti Oregano White Balsamic or Trader Joe’s Orange Champagne Vinegar
• 1 part fresh orange juice
• 3 parts Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• large pinch of ground mustard seeds
• salt and papper

You may replace the vinegar in the dressing with lemon juice or lime juice, the proportions change slightly to a five to two ratio

Basic Lemon Dressing

• 2 parts lemon juice
• 5 parts extra virgin olive oil
• large pinch of ground mustard seeds
• salt and pepper
• chopped chives, optional

Lime and Cilantro Dressing

• 2 parts lime juice
• 5 parts extra virgin olive oil
• ;arge pinch of ground mustard seeds
• salt and pepper
• 1 part chopped cilantro, optional but why would you leave it out

Method

Comine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Alternatively put into old clean jar and shake well

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