Making a (Simple) Vinaigrette

Who needs the brand name bottle when you can do a better job the Corduroy Orange way?

All you really need to have to make your own salad dressing is some decent vinegar and a bottle of olive oil. Mix 1 part vinegar and 3 parts oil in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Close and shake well.

If you’d like to add a little seasoning to your salad dressing, consider toasting some herbs and spices in the olive oil and then letting it cool before mixing with the vinegar. A nice combination is some freshly ground black pepper with a little garlic powder, some basil, and just a hint of allspice; but play around and see what spices you like. Also consider adding a pinch of salt to the dressing when you mix it.

The results you can achieve are far tastier, much more versatile, less expensive, and come with considerably less packaging as compared to buying bottles of pre-mixed Italian dressing or mix-your-own salad dressing envelopes. So, next time you’re running low on vinaigrette, don’t head for the supermarket! Head for your spice rack instead.

Note: homemade vinaigrettes have a tendency to gel up when refrigerated. If your dressing has no perishable ingredients in it, you can avoid the problem by storing it at room temperature; otherwise, just pull it from the fridge 10-15 minutes before you want to use it.

Also, do not use fresh garlic in any salad dressing you’re not planning on using immediately. Though toasting the garlic in hot oil should kill any microbes that happen to be on the garlic, there is a risk of botulism associated with storing fresh garlic in oil (thus my recommendation above to use garlic powder instead).

Leave a Reply