Sometimes the secret to getting your kids (and big people) to eat veggies and salad is to have a good tasting dressing. Any homemade dressing is going to be better tasting than the stuff you might buy from the store. This is just slightly more complicated than a simple oil and vinegar and can come together in the time that you are assembling your salad ingredients, and can be made in any jar with a lid, or one of those salad dressing bottles. Best thing might be that your kids can make it; if they make it, they will be that much more likely to actually eat it as well as the veggies it is drizzled onto!
This is a basic dressing. Feel free to add any favorite flavorings (sun dried tomatoes, favorite herbs, or even hard cheese like Parmesan). I’m giving you the proportions I use for my cruet; feel free to scale up or scale down as your container allows, using the 1:3 oil to vinegar ratio.
Salad dressing
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 T Dijon mustard
A few twists of salt and a few more of pepper
1 cup of any combination of favorite vinegars (we like sherry, red wine, white wine and/or balsamic). Generally if using balsamic, I use 1/4 cup of that in combination with 3/4 cup one of the other vinegars (the strong flavor of the balsamic can be a little over-powering).
Drop your smashed cloves of garlic into your container. Add in the oil. Put the lid on really tight, and then shake like mad. Set jar aside for a few minutes (5 minutes to however long). Add the Dijon, salt and pepper; put the top back on and, again, shake like mad. Try to get the mustard as evenly distributed as possible. Add the vinegars, put the the lid on again, and, one last time, shake like mad.
You’ll have to give it a good shake before using.
This will last in the fridge for about a week.
A few notes:
- I use a bit more vinegar than is typically found in traditional dressings because that is what’s we prefer.
-if you really want the dressing to stay more emulsified, you can add a tablespoon of mayo along with the Dijon. It will still separate but not to the same degree. Personally, I’m not a fan of mayo but ... this is a pretty easy trick and you won’t get a flavor of mayo.
- I use this Salad dressing container. But you can literally use any jar with a tight-fitting lid.