Traditional French Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
This salad dressing is perfect for any type of salad greens. It is also great used as a marinade for beef, seafood, poultry and pork. My family enjoys dipping fresh, hot bread into the dressing!
The basic recipe...
2 Tablespoons Vinegar (Red Wine or Cider)*
4-5 Tablespoons Oil (Olive or Vegetable)
1 clove of crushed garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
I normally make a fresh dressing each night and tailor it to the evening meal. (i.e. I add Italian herbs if we’re eating Italian; a dash of Sesame oil if we’re having something Asian). If you add something different each night, it’s a nice variety.
Start with the vinegar in the bottom of an empty salad bowl. I whisk in the crushed garlic, kosher salt and pepper. At this point you can add:
Chopped Scallions
Italian Seasonings (dry herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary)
Capers
Sliced Red Onion
Chopped Green Olives
Fresh Herbs (parsley, chives, basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme)
Dried Red Pepper Flakes
Dry Mustard
Anchovies
Once you’ve added your “secret” ingredient or left the dressing as is, start drizzling the oil into the vinegar mixture. You can get fancy and whisk with a whisk, or simply use a fork. Top the dressing with salad greens and fresh veggies and keep refrigerated. Toss to coat everything when you’re ready to serve.
*You can substitute Balsamic vinegar, champagne vinegar, lemon or lime juice for the acid.
To make bigger batches of this dressing, use the measurements on a salad dressing container that comes with packaged Italian dressings. Throw out those gummy tasting packages! ADD NO WATER! Otherwise, use half vinegar and a little bit more than half oil and adjust the spices for the quantity. You can make a big batch and store it in a shaker container.