Salad dressing advice?

A non-cooking friend asked me to make up some salad dressings for him. I should probably show him how to make them himself, but there is the fact that I have quite a collection of nice oils and vinegars.

What's stumping me right now is that the dressings will be sitting around for a while-- I will make small batches, but he will not be using them the same day or even the same week in every case-- and I'm afraid that any herbs or whatever may start to taste nasty. I'm thinking I'm safe with salt, pepper, mustard, and maybe some freeze dried minced shallots, and that's about it. Anyone have experience with this?

Perhaps not the suggestion you were looking for, but what about pre-portioning ingredients or mixes thereof in a manner that will help them to keep better? You could use a bunch of those cheap little disposable tupperware... I believe they go as small as a half cup. Can he handle dumping three tiny tupperware into one medium tupperware and shaking? That might expand your options a bit.

Oh-- maybe I could give him dry ingredients in little packets. I think I'll try that. Thanks!

If the dressing has a reasonable vinegar component and is kept refrigerated, it should keep quite a while. I've made some vinaigrettes using dried herbs that kept in the fridge for up to a year.

Hi,

If you'd like to teach them to make dressings on their own, they can buy a few different vinegars (balsamic, red wine, whatever else sounds interesting), a few different olive oils and some spices. Then you can mix a few dressings together. This may get them interested in trying making dressings on their own

One place that I like to go to for everything - the oils, vinegars and spices (and salad ingredients!) is Valli's Produce in Hoffman Estates.

Thanks for the further ideas! I think it would be nice for him to have some of his own fixings; maybe that will be a Christmas present.

I may try to add some dried herbs. This is kind of a mind-bending project for me because if it's oil and vinegar I pretty much just make it and use it up immediately.

I always make my own salad dressing. Nine times out of ten, it's a vinaigrette spiked with mustard. Sometimes, I'll use just a tiny bit of mustard for a background flavor. Other times, I'll use quite a bit so it dominates.

With different types of mustard you can vary it quite a bit. Grainy mustards add nice flavor and texture. Sweeter mustards are nice to use in small quantities. Sometimes I like a horseradish-spiked dijon. Most of the time it's just straight, high-quality dijon.

I have no less than 10 different mustards on hand at any time. Combined with various oils and vinegars, the dressing combinations are vast.

Two other things that often find themselves in my dressings are fresh thyme leaves and finely crumbled queso fresco. The thyme, if used judiciously, nicely highlights a green salad. The cheese has quite a neutral flavor, and adds texture and a bit of creaminess to a dressing. I'll often do this when my salad mainly consists of lettuce and I'm trying to make it a bit more interesting.

Best,
Michael

Someone told me once to watch out for fresh minced garlic going bad fast in oil or a dressing. Is this true?

I don't know, but you'd probably be better off using garlic or onion powder, for safety.

RiverWester wrote:Someone told me once to watch out for fresh minced garlic going bad fast in oil or a dressing. Is this true?

I don't know, but you'd probably be better off using garlic or onion powder, for safety.

Garlic tends to go "botulistic" in anaerobic environments. So...if you make garlic oil...use it responsibly(don't let it sit).


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a salad dressing tip:

The Spice House's tomato powder is a great addition to the standard whole grain/dijon mustard equation

Yes, I heard that garlic was a particular offender.

I have some dehydrated garlic from the Spice House that's not too bad; maybe I'll throw in a couple of pieces.

I'm making a couple of the dressings today. To make things even more complicated, my husband tells me this guy has been told to watch his salt intake. To me, salad dressing really needs salt. I'm thinking pepper, dry mustard, thyme, dehydrated garlic and maybe dehydrated shallots. I have very nice oils and vinegars so these dressings ought to be something I would like; I'll just have to see about him.

Edited to add: good call on the tomato powder. I happen to have some! Now I'm wondering about making one dressing with Spice House Salad Elegant. They say it's not a dressing ingredient but I think it might work.