Happy Meatless Monday everyone!! Today I want to share a quick guide to making salad dressing with you. Making your own salad dressing is a cinch! I prefer to make my own over bottle salad dressings because those tend to be high in oil, salt, and sugar and often have ingredients you can’t pronounce if you got it from a regular grocery store. No thank you!
Just like you want to include all of the “5 Tastes” into each meal, In general you want your salad dressing to cover all of the 5 tastes as well: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. Here are the basic elements that I think of when making a dressing and the kind of ingredients I would use for that. These aren’t steadfast rules, you can play around and leave one of the elements out. But I think once you start to think in this way you will be making the most delicious salad dressings ever!
Quick Guide to Making Dressings
First, do you want the dressing to be creamy, vinaigrette style, chunky, fruity or savory. That will of course determine the kinds of ingredients you use.
To make it creamy
I use soaked cashews, silken tofu, miso paste, tahini, mustard, avocados, vegan yogurt, or vegan sour cream to make a creamy dressing. So you would use one of these in addition to the 5 tastes profile to make a creamy dressing.
Sour
I like to use some sort of citrus like fresh squeezed lemon, lime, and orange. Oftentimes I use the zest of the fruit as well. Also vinegars would fall under the sour category. I keep many on hand in the pantry for dressings; apple cider, balsamic, red wine, champagne, yuzu, ume, brown rice vinegar.
Sweet
I use maple syrup generally because it adds to the liquid content of the dressing, but you can use whatever sweetener you like. Also you could use fresh fruit blended up for the sweet flavor, which will change the texture of the dressing.
Salty
A pinch of sea salt, tamari or soy sauce, coconut aminos, or Bragg will do and this is always to taste. Miso is also great for seasoning the dressing and making it a bit creamy. Another way to season a dressing without using salt is to add sea vegetables like kelp, dulse, nori, or wakame. I generally use a lot less salt than most people in my dressings, so add more as needed. Just remember it will get saltier as it sits, so go light.
Pungent
This can be an optional element of the dressing because sometimes it can overpower it. Just depends on what you are going for. Some pungent things used in dressings are ginger, onion, green onion, garlic, chili peppers, black pepper, and some herbs.
Fresh or Dried Herbs
This is optional, depending on what you plan to serve the dressing on and with. The dressing below has fresh tarragon for an added punch of flavor. I often use fresh herbs because they add another dimension to the dressing, but dried are nice too.
Bitter
This could also be optional depending on what you are serving the salad with, but many herbs and spices are bitter like turmeric or certain fruits like grapefruit, capers and olives. Most times I leave this one out because I’m not a big fan of bitter things.
Filtered Water
Sometimes a little water is needed to make the dressing the consistency you prefer.
This salad doesn't look very pretty but it was delicious. This was one of the most tasty salad dressings I've ever made. Fresh tarragon has a lovely flavor that is hard to describe; bright, a little bit sweet and minty almost. Try it in soups too!
Ingredients
- 1 cup cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup avocado, diced
- 1 corn on the cob, kernels removed
- 2 cups romaine, chopped
- 1/2 cup carrot, julienned
- 1 teaspoon tarragon, minced
- 1 teaspoon tamari
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon balsamic
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Preparation
Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Season with tamari according to your preference. Mix together the first 4 salad ingredients in a bowl then pour dressing over it and mix well. Lay romaine and carrots on a plate, then pile dressed veggies in the center. Top with tarragon. Enjoy!
http://theblissfulchef.com/2011/08/tarragon-dijon-dressing-a-quick-guide-to-making-dressings/Do you make your own dressings? What are your favorite ingredient combinations for dressings?
Monday, August 22, 2011 - 5:59 pm
I always make my own dressings. I like using tahini with some spices and water to thin it out, but I think I might try this one soon. It sounds delish
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 - 1:01 am
Doh I forgot to list tahini. I often use that instead of oil or for creaminess!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 - 4:19 am
I often make my own dressings, including everything from creamy ones with a bit of strawberry, tahini dressing, or a some sort of vinegar. Recently, I made one with a mix of fresh dill, mint, and basil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, evoo, salt and pepper, which has a lot of wow factor. You can use any herbs you like though, so next time I might prepare it with fresh cilantro/coriander and sage instead of mint just for a change of pace.
Thursday, August 25, 2011 - 8:50 am
Those sounds SO good Melissa!! Fresh herbs really make a dressing pop!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 7:06 am
Wonderful break down. I usually use avocados or tahini to make a dressing creamy. I try to stay away from nuts and oils. Fresh berries and citrus are my favorite fruits to blend into dressings and apple cider is my go to vinegar. I've been loving a blend of tahini, fresh dill, apple cider vinegar and lemon lately!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 7:54 am
Yes, avocados are great!! (I’m adding that to the list!) Your dressing sounds really good, I will give it a try!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 5:38 pm
Flax seed meal is a great thickener for salad dressings. My friend makes her own that is different each time. She will make a large enough quantity to last a few days. The salad dressing does still have to be shaken well prior to being used each time, but it works well for her. I never use her dressings, though, because I'm intolerant to onions and citrus, which she uses all the time. Still, I love the idea of what she does, and she never buys the stuff in the grocery stores. With my food sensitivities and intolerances, though, I usually stick with a splash of olive oil and a natural sea salt that still has all of its trace minerals in it.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - 10:23 am
[...] soups and stews (easy to freeze for later) 7. Huge salad with greens, veggies, avocado, beans and oil-free dressing 8. Casseroles (easy to freeze for later) 9. Pasta dishes with veggies and a light sauce 10. [...]
Wednesday, August 8, 2012 - 9:02 am
[...] I always make my own salad dressings from scratch. The bottled variety most times has too much oil, salt and sugar for my tastes. I’ve written a guide to making your own salad dressings over on my blog, The Blissful Chef. [...]
Friday, August 10, 2012 - 7:12 pm
[...] on their own, who can say no to sauce? Not I, said the saucy pig. This idea was inspired by the lovely dressing Christy Morgan, The Blissful Chef, developed and posted about the other day. And the fact that we just got back from camping and I was putting [...]