Maybe you eat salad because it’s healthy, because you grow greens in your garden, because you feel like having a light lunch, because it’s 100 degrees out and warm food is the last thing on your mind. Maybe you like salad as a fancy first course to your evening dinner. And maybe you like salad because you’re crazy enough to love it for its flavors.
100 Reasons Why
If you read that last line and said, “Hey, that’s my kind of crazy!” then I am right there with you. Salad offers endless variety, accommodates hundreds of ingredients, and takes on flavors from anywhere in the world. All of this is especially true if you make your own dressings. When I first started making salad, I bought a lot of bottled dressings, but I soon found that doing so had its drawbacks.
For one thing, the bottled dressings locked me into ruts. I like to eat a wide variety of dishes in a given week, but when I tried to buy dressing to keep creativity and versatility in my meals, it seemed like I always had a fridge door full of half-empty salad dressing bottles, some of which I never did use up. For another thing, when I perused the back of the bottles, I came across ingredients that as a chemist I pegged as questionable. I had to ask, “Why ruin healthy salad with potentially unhealthy dressing?”
Then I figured out a super easy, super fast way to make balsamic vinaigrettes with very little cleanup, and I have pretty much been making my own dressing ever since.
Shake! Shake! Shake! Your Dressing
I call my super easy, super fast way to make balsamic vinaigrette my dressing life hack: I put all the ingredients in a glass pint jar, screw on the lid, and shake them together. No mess, no fuss, barely any time. And I often make enough dressing for a second meal, so when I’m done with the first salad, I screw the lid on the jar and stash it in the fridge until I’m ready to come back to that dressing once more.
In the next couple of sections I’ll explain how dressings involve 3 basic ingredients (fat + acid + emulsifier) mixed together in certain ratios. I know the ratio of olive oil (fat) to vinegar (acid) I like best, and I’ve drawn my own fill lines on my jar so I don’t have to dirty any measuring cups when making my dressing. To mix my dressing, I add the vinegar and the emulsifying agent into the jar first and shake well. Add then I add the oil in gradually: I add a little oil and shake for a few seconds. I add a little more oil, and then I shake a few seconds more. And then I do the oil and shake thing one time more. Voila! You’ve made your vinaigrette. Want to make your dressing even better? Try listening to KC and The Sunshine Band’s “Shake Your Booty” when using this trick to mix up your next vinaigrette.
Oil and Water Don’t Mix . . .
I used to be a chemist, and in many ways, cooking is just like chemistry . . . only the hypotheses are more intriguing and the experiments more engaging: I think this will taste good. Why yes, it does!
Salad dressing is a fat + acid + emulsifying agent. If you’re using vinegar, say to make balsamic vinaigrette, then your acid is acetic acid. In chemistry language, acids are known as hydrophilic molecules, meaning they are molecules that carry a partial electrical charge. Water is a polar molecule, and so water likes acid and acid likes water (hence the name hydrophilic). Fats, however, are known as hydrophobic molecules, meaning they carry no charge, and so they don’t mix with water. Hence the name hydrophobic.
If you’ve ever tried to combine oil and vinegar, you already know, without the chemistry lesson, that the two don’t mix. And you maybe also know that you can fix your mixing problem by adding in a third ingredient, such as Dijon mustard. That third ingredient is what’s known as an emulsifier. An emulsifier is a molecule that consists of a water-loving hydrophilic head and an oil-loving hydrophobic tail, and thus it enables the acid (hydrophilic charged molecules) and fats (hydrophobic neutral molecules) to mix.
Emulsifiers are the key to making a successful vinaigrette. Here is quick list of some of my favorites to use in dressings:
Egg Yolks: Egg yolks contain lecithin, which is very good at blending oil and vinegar. You’ll often come across lecithin in the ingredient lists on the back of commercial dressing bottles. I use egg yolks only when I’m feeling extra adventurous. Raw egg yolks are not for everybody.
Raw Honey or Maple Syrup: Honey and maple syrup not only combine oil and vinegar but also add sweetness to your dressing. Maple syrup also adds maple flavor to your dressing, which can be especially great in fall and winter salads.
Mustard: You’ll come across mustard in many vinaigrette recipes. It not only mixes oil and vinegar but also adds flavor to your dressing. I use Dijon, stone-ground, or honey mustard in my vinaigrettes, but never ever plain yellow mustard.
Mayo: Mayonnaise is a great way to add creaminess to your balsamic vinaigrette, but if you’re using mayo as your emulsifier, make sure you’re using one that contains egg yolks. Yolk lecithin is key to mixing oil and vinegar!
In addition to fat (oil) + acid (vinegar) + emulsifying agent (honey, mustard, mayo) I like to add seasoning—a pinch of salt and cracked black pepper at the minimum. When I feel like spicing things up further, I go for dried herbs, fresh herbs, chopped garlic or shallots, even capers or anchovies. You can really get creative with your seasonings. Just be sure to “add to taste.” Add a teaspoon, taste your dressing, add more seasoning if needed, taste again, adjust again. Ultimately making your own vinaigrette is all about mixing together the flavors you love best.
Recipe Ratios
One thing I picked up from chemistry is to think of solutions and mixtures in terms of ratios. This concept has been especially useful to me in my cooking. Once you know that a salad dressing is a fat + acid + emulsifier, and once you know what ingredients fit into each of these categories (which you probably already know from life experience), then the only thing left to figure out is what kind of ratio in which to combine these ingredients. Once you know your ratios, you open up a whole world of salad dressing making just waiting for exploration.
If you really like vinegar, like I do, here is a good place to start when mixing up vinaigrettes:
¼ c. vinegar
¼ c. oil
1 Tbsp. emulsifying agent
If you prefer more oil in your vinaigrette, then try starting here:
¼ c. vinegar
½ c. oil
2 Tbsp. emulsifying agent
The great thing about these ratios is you don’t have to be exact. There’s room to wiggle. That’s especially true when it comes to emulsifiers—if you want to add mustard for flavor and also mayonnaise for creaminess, by all means, go for it! Play with your food!
Below is the link to my basic House Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe as well as links to recipes featuring various Pickle Creek infused olive oils and vinegars. These are all regulars in my weekly salad lineup. I hope they bring as much flavor to your table as they do to mine. Happy Eating!
House Balsamic Vinaigrette featuring any number of Pickle Creek Infused Olive Oils and Infused Vinegars
Spicy Mango Salad featuring Jalapeno Infused Olive Oil and Jalapeno Infused Vinegar
Grilled Caesar Salad featuring Lemon Basil and Garlic Olive Oil
Pear, Walnut, & Goat Cheese Salad featuring Pear Verbena Champagne Balsamic and Blood Orange Thyme Olive Oil
Waldorf Salad featuring Lavender Balsamic and Rosemary Olive Oil
Blueberry Balsamic Chicken Salad featuring Blueberry Lemon Thyme Balsamic and Blood Orange Thyme Olive Oil
Strawberry Spinach Salad featuring Strawberry Basil Balsamic or Raspberry Lemon Balsamic
Zesty Italian Dressing featuring Jalapeno Balsamic and Greek Basil and Garlic Infused Olive Oil (or Lemon Basil and Garlic Infused Olive Oil)
Mediterranean Salad Plate featuring Greek Oregano and Garlic Infused Olive Oil and Lemon Basil Balsamic or Rosemary Balsamic
Greek Pasta Salad featuring your favorite Pickle Creek Infused Olive Oil and Infused Vinegar
