Your favorite salad dressing

[m19834]

As I eat my first salad of the day, I find it odd that I didn't use my favorite salad dressing to compliment it.  My favorite dressings are probably olive oil and vinegar (probably balsamic is my favorite vinegar for this) and then second would probably be blue cheese -- yet, everyday, every salad, I always use ranch, I suppose because it's just so easy to squeeze it on out of the bottle.  I guess I like ranch well enough, but it's certainly not the kind of flavor a person savours, in my opinion, and it tends to completely overpower the taste of the individual vegetables as well as their subtle blends.  With ranch as a dressing, the ensemble of veggies tastes the same (aside from texture) whether you have just iceberg lettuce or a wonderful array of carefully picked flavors, which overall is utterly besides the whole point of a salad in my opinion.

When it comes to oil and vinegar, however, the variety of veggies is highlighted and brought to life by the oil and vinegar, not overpowered, and a salad is much more easily savoured like this.  I also enjoy the texture the oil gives the veggies.  Overall, I am just disappointed in my dressing and disappointed in my salad experience and hereby banish ranch from my salad experiences and perhaps from all salads in the entire world !

*nobly waves hand in banishment*

Given the above thoughts and experiences, I think that salad dressings represent a philosophy and way of life  .  I currently despise ranch and everything it represents.

[Petter]

I found that adding sugar in a vinegrette is a winner. However, a chef on TV said that only charlatans use suger when making dressings. 
 I take olive oil, white wine vinegar, herb salt and some sugar. Sometimes garlic and black pepper.
 I tasted a mustard dressing at a restaurant once and it was probably the best dressing I´ve ever had, chef refused to give up the recipe though.

[m19834]

Yeah, actually that reminds me of a dressing that my mom used to make on our tacos.  She would mix sugar and vinegrette and oil and mix it up with the lettuce and tomatoes.  When we would eat our tacos it was that very dressing that used to drip out of the tacos and all over our hands ... very, very messy, but, I think fondly on it.  I was never *quite* sure what to think of that recipe and flavor, but I think part of me liked it and still does.

Actually, yeah, mustard dressings can be very good.  There is a resturant around here that uses a mustard dressing on their fried calamari, and it's really good !

I will admit, your dressing sounds good, too . 

[ahinton]

Mmm...all soungs pretty good to me. Balsamic is fine, but there are so many of them and they vary so much in quality - a really fine aged balsamico di Modena can be so wonderful but I have also encoutered some rather poor ones. Olive oil, likewise, is such a big subject and these are now produced in and exported by so many countries - Crete is quite a large producer of it, despite being a small island, but in UK today one can also buy olive oils from South Africa, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and all manner of places - so finding a really good one, even among the cold pressed organic extra virgin variety, can be quite a challenge and, of course, different olive oils and balsamics work in different ways in different dressings and many other applications and uses. Other oils can also work wonderfully in salad dressings, not least a good French walnut oil.

There are surely limitless combinations of ingredients that can work successfully with that basic one of olive oil and balsamic to make a good dressing; I often put finely chopped fresh herbs of one kind or another in them, mustard (as has been observed) can work really well, lemon juice can work as a good alternative to balsamic, the sugar or no sugar argument is one on which the jury must forever remain out, I think (and for those with an aversion to sugar in and/or out of cressings, there's always the alternative of honeys of one kind or another).

I've never had the apparent misfortune to taste what you call "ranch" and have only ever bought a ready-made dressing once (most of which went down the waste disposal - never again, thanks). What's important at all times when using a salad dressing, however, is that it always only complements and but never swamps what it's being put on...

Best,

Alistair

[m19834]

Mmm...all soungs pretty good to me. Balsamic is fine, but there are so many of them and they vary so much in quality - a really fine aged balsamico di Modena can be so wonderful but I have also encoutered some rather poor ones.

I was hoping you might chime in .  This last season I gave a private voice concert for a small dinner-party, given by a well-to-do couple hosting those whom had been the highest bidders for the evening.  I was invited to eat in the kitchen following the musical portion of their evening and for one of their courses they served a bite-sized piece of aged parmesan cheese on a small plate with a small fork, with a drizzle of 40-year-old balsamic vinegar on top.  The vinegar came in a little wooden box and in a tiny, little bottle and the taste and aroma of it forever destroyed my palette !  It was syrupy and sweet with such a nice tang ... and the parmesan cheese so nutty.  hmmm ... it was really good and I have just never had anything like it !  I didn't even know that aged vinegars and parmesan cheeses exist .

The only other vinegars I have really ever had are cheaper red-wines, apple, white, malt and tarragon (though, is that just the herb being added to some form of base vinegar ?).  All of which have been very "run-of-the-mill" and I realize that if I had the opportunity to try anything close to the balsamic but in other flavors, it may change my entire world !  hee hee.

I have noticed of course that olive oils are varied, and have only ventured into other types of oil a little bit.  Awhile back I was vegan and started getting very interested in oils at that point, but didn't end up exploring them too much.

There are surely limitless combinations of ingredients that can work successfully with that basic one of olive oil and balsamic to make a good dressing; I often put finely chopped fresh herbs of one kind or another in them, mustard (as has been observed) can work really well, lemon juice can work as a good alternative to balsamic, the sugar or no sugar argument is one on which the jury must forever remain out, I think (and for those with an aversion to sugar in and/or out of cressings, there's always the alternative of honeys of one kind or another).

Yeah, I went through a phase (in my vegan days) of olive oil, lemon or lime juice and freshly chopped herbs as a dressing, it was quite nice but it could have perhaps used a little bit of honey or so to offset the acid of the citrus ... I just didn't think of it at the time.

I've never had the apparent misfortune to taste what you call "ranch" and have only ever bought a ready-made dressing once (most of which went down the waste disposal - never again, thanks). What's important at all times when using a salad dressing, however, is that it always only complements and but never swamps what it's being put on...

Best,

Alistair

Yes, well, you are right, it is now officially a big misfortune to me !  The thing is, this kind of dressing will overpower the flavor of the other things so easily, no matter what proportion it is added in.  That is why I have banned it from the world  .

[ahinton]

Karli...

I am no authority on such matters, but one has always new things to try and to explore.

You wrote of
a bite-sized piece of aged parmesan cheese on a small plate with a small fork, with a drizzle of 40-year-old balsamic vinegar on top.  The vinegar came in a little wooden box and in a tiny, little bottle and the taste and aroma of it forever destroyed my palette !  It was syrupy and sweet with such a nice tang ... and the parmesan cheese so nutty.  hmmm ... it was really good and I have just never had anything like it !  I didn't even know that aged vinegars and parmesan cheeses exist

Well, never mind the presentation but these things can sometimes be really wonderful, as this was for you on that occasion, evidently - and yes, the aroma alone can be quite a sensuous experience!

You also mention having espoused veganism at one point (and I presume you to have abandoned this persuasion now); I have nothing against veganism except my fears that the vegan diet usually lacks the kinds of nutritional content that most people really do need.

Anyway, there are so many such things to explore so one would never tire of them. Salads themselves can at their best embrace an entire world of gastronomic pleasure, especially when appropriately dressed; that said, I don't pretend to be other than a part-time carnivore who also takes pleasure in fresh fish (the fresher the better!) and meat that's been properly and sensitively reared / slaughtered / hung / butchered / presented.

Best,

Alistair

[m]

The dressing very much depends on the salad. For example, whenever I make bits or egg/cheese salads, the only appropriate dressing woud work is a real sour cream and a lttle splash of mayonese. With lettes/shrimp/fresh mozarella/grape salad my favorite is Italian balsamic vinegar and a certain kind of Olive oil. For some salads I prefer lemon/olive oil dressing, or sour cream, but for others sesami oil, Goddess, or blue cheese...
The good way to destroy a good salad is to use wrong dressing  .

[m19834]

You also mention having espoused veganism at one point (and I presume you to have abandoned this persuasion now); I have nothing against veganism except my fears that the vegan diet usually lacks the kinds of nutritional content that most people really do need.

Yes, actually, that is the exact reason I stopped being vegan; I just started feeling extremely drained or something, like there was something very missing from my overall diet (but I had also omitted starch and sugar).  The interesting thing about having been a devout vegan for about 8 months or so is that I learned some really interesting new recipies and an entirely new way of thinking about eating.  I learned some new recipies that I still absolutely love, even though I eat meat and dairy again now.

Anyway, there are so many such things to explore so one would never tire of them. Salads themselves can at their best embrace an entire world of gastronomic pleasure, especially when appropriately dressed; that said, I don't pretend to be other than a part-time carnivore who also takes pleasure in fresh fish (the fresher the better!) and meat that's been properly and sensitively reared / slaughtered / hung / butchered / presented.

Best,

Alistair

Yeah, I have to admit that seafood is probably my most favorite food in the entire world... at least of what I have eaten so far.  It's somehow just perfect !  However, I like red meat and pig and poultry, too, quite a bit.

The dressing very much depends on the salad. For example, whenever I make bits or egg/cheese salads, the only appropriate dressing woud work is a real sour cream and a lttle splash of mayonese. With lettes/shrimp/fresh mozarella/grape salad my favorite is Italian balsamic vinegar and a certain kind of Olive oil. For some salads I prefer lemon/olive oil dressing, or sour cream, but for others sesami oil, Goddess, or blue cheese...
The good way to destroy a good salad is to use wrong dressing  .

Yes, that's very true that the dressing depends on the salad.  But, I have to ask you ... what are "bits" ?

[m]

Yes, that's very true that the dressing depends on the salad.  But, I have to ask you ... what are "bits" ?

Typing too fast and misspelling beets 

[ahinton]

Yes, actually, that is the exact reason I stopped being vegan; I just started feeling extremely drained or something, like there was something very missing from my overall diet (but I had also omitted starch and sugar).

Then I'm really relieved to discover that you have survived this self-imposed experience intact - that could have ended up as a quite dangerous dietary régime if allowed to continue unchecked, especially for your musical life, given that you are a soprano.

The interesting thing about having been a devout vegan for about 8 months or so is that I learned some really interesting new recipies and an entirely new way of thinking about eating.  I learned some new recipies that I still absolutely love, even though I eat meat and dairy again now.

Yes, that's probably the one positive outcome of a temporary espousal of veganism...

There's a fine chef in charge of the kitchen at one of the best hotels in the city of Bath, England where I live whose calling card is that of prioritising nutritional values as being of equal importance to taste and presentation. Much as I respect his principles and his work (apart from the almost inevitable excess of evangelising and self-promotion that accompanies his otherwise admirable attitudes on this), the entirely anti-dairy stance which he has chosen to adopt as part of this is one that I have for some time suspected as having rather less basis in general nutritional benefit than he seeks to claim for it. In an age when bad diet and the instance of obesity runs embarrassaingly and regrettably counter to the vastly increased availability of a wide range of foods, one can see why he's going on this trip; one reason is the widespread high cholesterol issue that has, among other things, prompted the medical profession to market statins for all they're worth. However, I recently overheard a lady telling her friend that she had been to lunch at this hotel more than 60 times in the past year and had at other times endeavoured to follow this chef's dietary recommendations (she must have pots of money - lunch there is blisteringly expensive!) but eventually had become quite ill and her doctor, knowing nothing of what she'd been doing, sent her for a cholesterol test that revealed her readings to be so dangerously low that he had her immediately admitted to hospital...

Anyway - back to salad dressings!...

Best,

Alistair

[goldentone]

Well, funny it is that I have had this craving for a salad growing on me tonight.  Is there a subliminal message embedded somewhere?  (I speak to the thread-starter).

So tomorrow I may remedy this with an appropriately decked salad and with these suggestions in mind for a complementary dressing.

[concerto_love]

French dressing, hehehe..