Best dressed

When I order salads at a restaurant, I always ask for dressing on the side. It’s true that dressing can be a major source of hidden fat and calories–but the truth is, I order it separate because I often end up disliking the way it tastes. To me, it’s better to have plain old oil and vinegar than a concoction that overwhelms the vegetables it’s accompanying.

I do love ranch dressing, but only when it’s homemade–and admittedly, my version is pretty lousy. The one tried-and-true salad dressing recipe I have in my arsenal is a simple mustard vinaigrette, which I learned to make on a trip to the Culinary Institute of America in California a few years ago. It’s so easy that once you’ve thrown it together once or twice, you can wing it from there on out.

Anyway, dear readers, I love this recipe, but I could really use something new. If you have a great salad dressing recipe to share, will you share it in the comments section or email me (camille (at) camillenoepagan (dot) com)?

Mustard vinaigrette
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (depending on how sweet you like it)*
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic; onion powder is also delicious if you don’t have garlic on hand
1 cup vegetable oil (olive actually works well for this, although it doesn’t seem to keep as well as Canola)

*For an amazing peanut-y flavor, sub the honey for a tablespoon of peanut butter

-Camille