Salad dressing - homemade or store bought

I think you needed another option in your choices:

"I have no oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt in my house."

I don't care if you work out, work up, own up or throw up. For if you have any of those ingredients, a salad dressing *far* better than anything in the marketplace is at your fingertips and mere seconds away.

I bought a bottle of that crap once just to see what it was like.

Oh, and let me fan the flames a little more - salad dressing without fat is totally useless. (I'm sure Bob will explain.)

Not only that, Chef, but store bought is usually loaded with things unnatural to salad dressing or overly unnecessary, and so it is generally unhealthy.

Even in restaurants, I ask about the dressing. If I don't like the answer, I ask for it on the side to taste, plus a wedge of lemon, just in case I need to make my own dressing at the table.

I use Girard's Spinach Salad Dressing....the rest I make fresh. I was introduced to this product at a friends home. She made a spinach salad with diced red onion, blue cheese and spicy/sweet/ toasted pecans, and chopped egg. It is very good. I just cleaned out my refer and found a bottle of Champagne Pear Dressing someone gave me. It's not bad either but you cannot beat a well made vinaigrette, which I make all the time experimenting with all types of vinegars/oils/lemon juice/various garlics/shallots, etc. Yummy stuff.

[David M. Bueker]

The more I think about this the more I realize that I eat salad. I don't care one whit about it. I eat it because I feel I need to, not because I like any aspect of it (except for those special creations).

[Jenise]

Convenience is different from laziness. I work out over 90 minutes a night, and I use store-bought dressing. I'm not lazy.

Okay, David, but you ARE the exception. I had dinner the other night at the home of a woman who is exactly my age who has never made her own salad dressing. NEVER. Is she a lazy person? No. Like you, she's a very industrious person. But has she ever taken the time to find out how easy it is to make her own salad dressing and her home cooking relies heavily on boxed and bottled products.

As for time, you can make a basic vinaigrette for one salad in the bottom of a salad bowl in less than 60 seconds. And in the same amount of time you can make a larger amount in a jar that you can store in the fridge and use as conveniently as a commercial dressing. If you prefer the taste of a pre-made, that's fine. But I eat a lot of salads on the run just like you do, and because I prefer homemade I always have the extra minute to make it for myself.

I had dinner the other night at the home of a woman who is exactly my age who has never made her own salad dressing. NEVER.

There you are. The full range of options. (Vs. I, IIRC, never bought commercial dressing. "NEVER." But have known and cooked with many people who did which is how I got some experience tasting them.

What I truly don't know is other people's motivations for buying it (or the range of possibilities there), so I couldn't conscientiously form such a poll. This reminds me of past food threads elsewhere on topics where the posters speculated. (1.) Non-wine-drinkers projecting "snob" or other motivations onto people who swirl wine in a glass (whereas I, a wine drinker, do it for the smell). (2.) In New Orleans once, speculating about social-class agendas behind a report that certain restaurant orders predict poor tipping to follow (steaks "well done," "Thousand Island" salad dressing, "virgin" drinks). No, some servers replied: It reflects that we work for tips, so we notice what orders lead to better or worse tips.

One solution to having no time to make dressing is to make up enough good vinaigrette to last -- it's good a few days, even weeks. Garlic, especially crushed, is a powerful emulsifier tending to bind the oil and water components; certain strong flavors like vinegar, lemon juice, and mustard are natural preservatives.

What I truly don't know is other people's motivations for buying it (or the range of possibilities there), so I couldn't conscientiously form such a poll.

I guess I should have gone back to University to get my Masters in Polling Statistics before posing the question.

Max, I get your point. However, think I'm a pretty good judge of character and some of the motivations of people I know well, so I was comfortable answering my own questions on their behalf.

[David M. Bueker]

Ok - somebody give me a good mustard vinagrette recipe (make sure it has garlic in it!) - I'll start from there.

Ok - somebody give me a good mustard vinagrette recipe (make sure it has garlic in it!) - I'll start from there.

Oh hell, here are some principles, they're pretty easy (don't ask me for exact quantities though). Dijon-type mustard is a signature component in the pungent vinaigrettes often used in bistros in France by the way. (Reference example: Brasserie Lipp.)

Olive oil, vinegar (cider or wine or balsamic -- I usually use cider and some balsamic), shake with crushed garlic, a clove or two for a half-pint of liquid. Flavor with smooth Dijon mustard, salt to taste (it should taste fairly strong unless you use it abundantly), a few grinds of black pepper, and a pinch of green herbs to taste. Shake it well and let the flavors develop if possible for some minutes or an hour before using. Refrigerate to store -- good olive oil will separate out when chilled, needs to come back up in temp. a little before shaking will re-emulsify.

Variations: Herbal balsamic vinaigrettes, often without mustard. (These make killer marinades for things like chicken pieces for roasting; pull off the skins first, as for tandoori chicken.) To use onion powder, which is a good easy ingredient (and helpful thickener in a marinade, helps it stick to the meat), soak the powder in a little water first, just enough to wet it. Otherwise it hardens a little when it hits the acid. Again include crushed fresh garlic -- a garlic press is useful here but not essential.

An exceptional variation is vinaigrette with walnut oil and (at least part) balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and shallots -- either fresh or freeze-dried in which case rehydrate first as above, and about as much as the garlic or slightly more. Pureed in a blender. It becomes viscous like heavy cream. This has been a big success on simple lettuce leaves with toasted walnuts.

Final [I hope] edit to add: These are all variants of what's traditionally called French dressing in the US, still called that in other English-speaking lands. But in recent years some bottled dressing firms (!!!) pushed a tomato-flavored variant (sweetened heavily with corn syrup, no less) which skewed current US understanding of the phrase. So for instance when boarding British air lines in US ports, if they offer a "French Dressing" with a salad, it's good to ask "British or American sense" -- when that happened, the steward understood immediately, so it's an issue.

Ok - somebody give me a good mustard vinagrette recipe (make sure it has garlic in it!) - I'll start from there.

Mustard, vinegar and garlic... have at it

Thomas, don't forget the oil! And a little salt.

Stuart, when does the Visual Metaphor debut? I'm on the edge of my seat.

Mmmm, perhaps this IS a visual metaphor!

Mmmm, perhaps this IS a visual metaphor!

Sounds like a cop out to me.

I work out over 90 minutes a night, and I use store-bought dressing. I'm not lazy.

Dave, you work out 90 MINUTES A NIGHT ?!? Maaaan, you are certainly NOT lazy. I have trouble at the moment getting in anything more than 2 hours a week. Good on you, matey !

Yeah, I know I've missed the whole salad dressing point, sorry. :) I didn't actually have much to add - we use bought dressing, and we make our own. We like Paul Newman's because it's nice, and it has his cute face on the bottle (ok, not we, but that's why I buy it). There are also some very nice gourmet dressings too which we splurge on occasionally. But if we're lazy, it's just EVOO and balsamic over lettuce.

I work out over 90 minutes a night, and I use store-bought dressing. I'm not lazy.

Dave, you work out 90 MINUTES A NIGHT ?!? Maaaan, you are certainly NOT lazy. I have trouble at the moment getting in anything more than 2 hours a week. Good on you, matey !

Yeah, I know I've missed the whole salad dressing point, sorry. I didn't actually have much to add - we use bought dressing, and we make our own. We like Paul Newman's because it's nice, and it has his cute face on the bottle (ok, not we, but that's why I buy it). There are also some very nice gourmet dressings too which we splurge on occasionally. But if we're lazy, it's just EVOO and balsamic over lettuce.

You do know, Celia, that Newman's Own is releasing wine next year.

Ooh, Thomas, I reckon they could get a whole body shot of old blue eyes on a wine bottle...will have to watch out for it !

Mmmm, perhaps this IS a visual metaphor!

Can't be, I've been waiting too! Hoping for a less scary picture than the last one. You look like a handsome guy, so let us see the new one

Mmmm, perhaps this IS a visual metaphor!

Can't be, I've been waiting too! Hoping for a less scary picture than the last one. You look like a handsome guy, so let us see the new one

Please make an appointment with your eye doctor. Soon.

I really like Good Season's Salad dressing.

Maria, I like it too. My mother-in-law uses it almost exclusively (whirls it in a blender and it stays emulsified, nice.) and I had started using it sometimes, but my husband made it known that he prefers mine so I try to oblige.

I do both. When I want a fat-free dressing, I buy it; when I don't, I make it. Okay, let the verbal beatings begin...I can take it.

RE: Stuart's visual metaphor. I've had an inkling for some time that perhaps the pink square [/i]is the metaphor. Hope I'm right. Of course, it's like the Heisenberg principle; now Stuart will change it.

For whatever reason we have been making our own for a while. Not intentionally, really, just that suddenly we wanted this: rub the salad bowl with a garlic clove, put in a head of chopped romaine, add 2 T of EVOO, toss to coat the leaves. Add about 1-1/2 T balsamic vinegar, freshly ground black pepper, toss again.
Thats it.

The more I think about this the more I realize that I eat salad. I don't care one whit about it. I eat it because I feel I need to, not because I like any aspect of it (except for those special creations).

You're clearly not a Salad Hedonist..

I voted Don't realize how easy it is and I didn't. Great thread, the Draves family will live a little better now. I usually have my salad "dry" because I saw the ingredients on store bought dressing. I had no clue that Blue Cheese was as easy as cheese and yogurt. Too bad we're going to relatives for Thanksgiving- it's 6am and I'm in the mood for salad.

My favorite dressing ever is the miso salad dressing they serve at Sushi joints. Last week I ordered three salads (they're small) and no sushi for lunch just for the dressing. They looked at me like I was nuts.

I tried to recreate that miso dressing tonight with a store-bought bottle of concentrated miso ($5.99) and French dressing (as suggested on the label), the results weren't even close. Anyone know the secret?

Best,
Joe