So I finally made salad dressing

[David M. Bueker]

Not too hard. Canola oil (stupid me was rushing like crazy & didn't even THINK of olive oil - oh well next time), balsamic vinegar, a little salt & pepper, a minced garlic clove, some dry basil (dried from my summer crop) and just a pinch of sugar to brighten the flavors. Pretty good. Didn't change my world view, but pretty good.[/i]

Good one, David.

When I'm overrun with cherry tomatos, I like to put a couple dozen on a tray in the toaster oven for 15-20mins until they are starting to roast and split open. Dump them in a mixing bowl, mush em up and mix in some olive oil, chopped shallot, splash of balsamic, a bit of grainy mustard, s+p (typical vinegarette stuff). It's pretty yummy tossed with some field greens and topped with panko crusted sauteed goat cheese.

[Jenise]

David, congratulations. I started to recommend mustard but I see Randy got there first. Another great combo, especially if the salad contains a lot of vegetables: oil (olive or canola), regular vinegar, mustard, dry tarragon, and salt. Just mix it in the bottom of a bowl with a fork, put your salad ingredients on top, then toss.

[David M. Bueker]

Added a little spicy, grainy mustard to my remaining dressing. Made for a zesty salad tonight.

You didn't put riesling in it?

rwj

[David M. Bueker]

Maybe next time - a nice, steely Trimbach or Egon Muller in place of vinegar?

I bet that would be pretty good. You could even cook off what little alcohol is there. Then you would have the essence of riesling.

rwj

[Jenise]

Other good ingredients: a dash or two of worcestershire sauce (adds spice), a dash or two of soy sauce (gives a smokey hint, nice with spinach), chopped shallots (let dressing marinate aboiut 10 minutes to soften their texture and sweeten their flavor). Sometime try using lemon juice instead of vinegar and mix it with a walnut or hazelnut oil, add just salt and toss the dressing with lots of green lettuce, some crumbled blue cheese and chopped green onions. Sliced almonds are a nice addition too. Hopefully, you'll find yourself liking plain old lettuce lettuce more than you used to with all these variations.

[Jenise]

Other good ingredients: a dash or two of worcestershire sauce (adds spice), a dash or two of soy sauce (gives a smokey hint, nice with spinach), chopped shallots (let dressing marinate aboiut 10 minutes to soften their texture and sweeten their flavor). Sometime try using lemon juice instead of vinegar and mix it with a walnut or hazelnut oil, add just salt and toss the dressing with lots of green lettuce, some crumbled blue cheese and chopped green onions. Sliced almonds are a nice addition too. Hopefully, you'll find yourself liking plain old lettuce lettuce more than you used to with all these variations.

Try the riesling with lemon juice, sliced almonds and shallots.

rwj

[David M. Bueker]

So I did a similar dressing with honey mustard instead of the grainy mustard & touch of sugar combination. Also added a hard-boiled egg yolk that did a great job of holiding everything together. Really great on a spinach salad with toasted pecans (and the egg whites).