24 Recipes & Ideas for Vinaigrettes

I have just spent a lovely few days with my family who I don’t see nearly as much as I’d like due to living far apart. 

My sister, Maggie, is very foodie; we have run restaurants together and she together with her husband and my oldest niece (the lovely Jenny) now as the lovely  Art Café and Cakehole! 

My brother, David, however is not at all this way inclined and he amused me many times with such comments as ...

“Lasagne – what’s all that about?”

“Rice – where’s the point in that?”

and my favourite, said in amazement ...

“Lettuce – why?”

He went on from this to query why anyone in their right mind would want to put “greasy oil” (of all things) on “wet tasteless lettuce” and it is this subject that I wish to address today although, knowing my bro, I don’t think I’ll convert him!

Of course people in their right mind rarely put just oil on their lettuce (although some particularly tasty evoo with a salty sprinkle can do the trick); they commonly make a vinaigrette and there is even a mathematical formula to help with this ...

3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar or other acidic 

ingredient such as lemon juice

To an extent this formula holds true but it can be varied a little to suit different ingredients or even different accompaniments for instance a slightly oilier dressing might be good if you are serving wine with the salad so that the meal is not too acidic.

A few Handy Hints and Info vis a vis Vinaigrettes

~   Probably the best way to make a vinaigrette dressing is to put the vinegar plus other ingredients such as mustard into a liquidiser and then gradually drizzle in the oil so that the mixture emulsifies, you can also do this by hand with a whisk or ...

~   A quicker and easier way is to put all the ingredients into a jam jar, seal with the lid and give it a jolly old shake. This is useful because unused dressing can be kept in the jar in the fridge and if it separates just shake again before use.

~   Having said that if the dressing is simply oil and vinegar it won’t hold together whatever you do as they don’t mix so you need an emulsifier such as a little Dijon mustard, garlic, cream, tomato paste, mayonnaise or maybe other ingredient which will not only add flavour but helps the oil and vinegar bind together.  Egg yolk is a great emulsifier but then we are getting into the realms of mayonnaise.

~   The vinaigrette will emulsify easiest if all ingredients are at room temperature.

~   Whilst in most cases olive oil is the norm and extra virgin olive oil is particularly good different vegetable oils can be used or maybe cut the richness of extra virgin with a light oil or add a touch of sesame or walnut oil as appropriate.

~   The best way to taste a vinaigrette prior to serving is to just dip a little lettuce leaf into it, shake off excess and bung it in your mouth.

~   However delicious the dressing don’t drown the salad; a light film of dressing is sufficient.

~   A simple vinaigrette containing no fresh ingredients will keep very well but if you add fresh garlic, herbs, shallot etc. then keep chilled and use within a couple of days.

Basic Vinaigrette Recipe

½ tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp vinegar – of your choice eg. red wine, balsamic or sherry vinegar

3 tbsp vegetable oil

pinch of salt

~   Liquidise, whisk or shake the ingredients as above.

Fairly obviously this makes a little over 4 tbsp, which is 60ml/2 fl oz/¼ cup, but make as much as you like so long as you stick to the same percentages.

Quick Additions to Vinaigrette

~   Add ½ tsp runny honey et voila; honey mustard vinaigrette – this goes extraordinary well with ham salad.

~   Mix in a little crushed garlic to taste.

~   Squeeze in some roasted garlic.

~   Mash in some black garlic – see here to read more about this fabulous ingredient. 

~   Fresh herbs – if making the vinaigrette in the liquidiser just add the herbs and they will chop right into it. Try fresh parsley in a lemony dressing.

~   Copious amounts of freshly ground black pepper – great if you use lemon juice instead of vinegar (also great if you don’t!)

~   This is an odd but good one – sauté a couple of chicken livers, crush with a fork and mix into a simple vinaigrette (or a complicated one if you prefer) to dress crunchy salad leaves.

~   Crumble in some blue cheese – particularly good with roasted garlic and black pepper too.

~   Scrape in the seeds from a fresh fig or two – lovely served with calves liver!

~   For Salade Niçoise – use lemon juice instead of vinegar and add 2 crushed anchovies and a crushed garlic or two.

In all cases, of course, taste and season before serving!

Slightly More Complicated Salad Dressings

Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette

Good with mozzarealla and torn basil, for instance.

2 reasonably large (not beefsteak) ripe tomatoes

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne

possibly a little sugar

~   Quarter the tomatoes and coarsely grate them, cut side to the grater, right down to the skin.

~   Stir in the garlic and vinegar then whisk in the oil (or shake in a jar).

~   Taste and season, if too sharp add a little sugar.

This vinaigrette is not a great keeper – use within a day or two.

Baked Lemon Vinaigrette

2 heavy thin skinned lemons

(heavy and thin skinned means juicy!)

½ tbsp olive oil

2 tsp honey

another 3 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

~   Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6.

~   Halve the lemons and put cut side up in a shallow ovenproof dish.
~   Drizzle the cut sides with the ½ tbsp olive oil.
~   Turn cut side down and bake for 25-30 minutes till just turning golden.

~   Cool and then squeeze out the juice.
~   Stir in the honey (plus any juices in the baking dish) and then whisk in the oil.

~   Taste and season.

Good additions to this are fresh herbs (parsley or thyme in particular) or a little chilli. Whatever you add, within reason, this is particularly good with seafood.

Warm Fennel Vinaigrette

half a bulb of fennel

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

fennel fronds – finely chopped

~   Remove the fennel fronds and set aside.

~   Finely chop the fennel bulb.
~   Gently cook the fennel in the olive oil till tender and golden.
~   Cool the fennel and oil for about 15 minutes then stir in the vinegar and lemon juice.

~   Taste and season.
~   Finely chop the fennel fronds and stir in just before serving.

This is a great sauce for fish – make it in advance if necessary and re-warm gently to serve. Or serve cold as a dressing for fishy salads.

Caesar Dressing Vinaigrette

Normally Caesar Salad is dressed with a garlicky anchovy mayonnaise but here is a good egg-free alternative.  This one is best made in a liquidiser although I’m sure you can manage if you haven’t got one.

1 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2-3 anchovy fillets

1-2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp lemon juice

6 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

~   Liquidise together the first 6 ingredients.

~   Gradually add the olive oil till emulsified.
~   Taste and season BUT be very careful about salt; it may not need any due to the saltiness of the anchovies.

Toasted Nut of your Choice Vinaigrette

You do need a liquidiser or food processor for this one.

60g nuts

1 garlic clove

60ml vinegar – sherry vinegar is good with nuts

180ml olive oil

salt and pepper

~   Toss the nuts in a dry pan over medium heat, shaking the pan till the nuts are lightly toasted and fragrant.
~   Put them in the liquidiser together with the garlic and pulverise them.
~   Add the vinegar and then, gradually, the oil till thick and creamy.

~   Taste and season.

~   If the mixture is too thick for your liking thin it with a little warm water.

This is not a good keeper – 2 days max.  Keep in the fridge but bring to room temperature before using.

Incidentally ~  here for your entertainment is a HUGE lettuce I bought in France a few months ago, for perspective that is my size 5 foot beside it! 

Links to other vinaigrette recipes around Sudden Lunch!

~   Pear Vinaigrette – with cider vinegar and honey this is great with blue cheese salads. 

~   Burnt Orange Vinaigrette – try with scallops!

~   Bacon Balsamic Vinaigrette – lovely on grilled lettuce!

~   Sweet Chilli Dressing  – I like this with salmon.

~   Caramelised Red Wine Vinaigrette – cheese, obviously.

~   Lemon Poppyseed Dressing – seafood. 

~   Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette – cheese and/or beef salads, for instance, or grilled steak.

~   Roasted Carrot Vinaigrette – when I made this I first served it with sea bass, but it is quite a friendly flexible sort of dressing. 
  

Things to do with vinaigrettes other than dress a salad ...

~   Use as a dip for raw veggies or lovely bread such as homemade sourdough - yummy!

~   Drizzle over things other than salads – maybe hummus (this confuses my brother too!) or appropriately flavoured soups.  Try a little Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette on steak or, as mentioned above, fig vinaigrette is delicious with calves’ liver

~   Sometimes a vinaigrette is good stirred through freshly cooked, and even hot if you like, vegetables – try a minty dressing with fresh peas, for instance.

~   Marinade meat or fish in a suitable vinaigrette to tenderise and flavour it.  Meats can be marinated for several hours but, in the case of fish, just a few minutes is fine – too long and the acid will actually “cook” the fish and you will have ceviche – nice, but not what you intended.

Famous Salad Dressing Quote

Anonymous (he said quite a lot of things actually!)

Tweetables ...

~   A few Handy Hints, Recipes and Info vis a vis Vinaigrettes.
~   24+ Vinaigrette Recipes and other good ideas.
~   Lettuce ~ but why?!  A few good reasons here. 

Delicious things to do with Roasted Carrots

Many years ago, probably when I was in my 40s,  I read "The Man Who Ate Everything" by Jeffrey Steingarten and thought "I want to be just like him when I grow up".  The thing that particularly attracted me was that as he was (and is) a food writer people were always sending him wonderful things to test and write about.  

Well I think it might have started happening to me too - a few weeks ago I was invited up to London (I live in Cornwall) to try a carrot; not just an ordinary carrot mind you, a Chantenay carrot.  I couldn't afford the trip but luckily a few days ago my real man brought home some bargain carrots of the very same race, I think he paid 35p instead of the full price of £1 but there was absolutely nothing wrong with them so I didn't use them for a few days.

Then I roasted them - just topped and tailed, tossed them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and cooked alongside a roasting chicken.  They took about an hour or a bit more and for the first 45 minutes I kept them covered with foil, then uncovered them to caramelise. 

These were so delicious that even my real man liked them, so I got all inspired, did it again and had a play.

My ideas for Roasted Carrots ...

Glazed Roasted Carrots 

To make them even more special just before serving melt in a little honey and butter to make a little glaze.

Warm and Nutty Carrot Salad

This was the second thing I tried - I just tossed some of the smallest  carrots whole together with a few pecans and tender leaves and drizzled with balsamic glaze with is, of course, sweet and so perfect with carrots. This was my first attempt just to see what I thought. I added crunchy sea salt and black pepper, thought WOW and stopped there.  This is really good!

Roasted Carrot Dip 

Purée "leftover" roast carrots with something appropriate to make a dip. I had some leftover sour cream and onion dip and added some parsley but cream cheese, mayonnaise or even hummus would make good alternatives.

Roasted Carrot Vinaigrette

For this I used about 60ml olive oil and 20ml cider vinegar with 5 roasted and puréed Chantenay carrots.  I add a pinch of salt and sweetened with honey; about 2 teaspoons, and prettied it up a bit with some chopped parsley.

This is based on my genius vinaigrette recipe ~ read more, with lots of suggestions, here.

Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup

I use pretty well the same basic recipe for all my soups (and have written a book "SOUP (almost) the Only Recipe You'll Ever Need" about this "genius" recipe) and this was no exception. The basic idea is to cook an onion my favourite way and when tender add a sliced potato or two and just cover with stock or water. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer till tender. Add your roasted carrots and cook a few minutes more. Purée, dilute with more stock, milk or cream to your ideal soup consistency then taste and season.  I added a few chunks of roasted carrot and some parsley for added poshness.

In other news ...

Talking of orange coloured bargains - take a look at these; 17 beautiful lilies. still in bud when we bought them, for just £1.  They lasted almost three weeks.

And here for your delectation is a car covered in grass (fake I presume) that I saw in Truro - I cut off the front of the photo to save the driver's privacy.

Rather Cross about a Choc Ice

~  Menu  ~

Simple Salad with Hummus Vinaigrette

Vicky’s Bread

White Wine Spritzer

Somewhat disappointing Choc Ice on a Stick

This is just a quickie. I went to the local car book sale today with my friend Diane from next door and was starving when I got back. I decided to just have some hummus, bought in I’m afraid, on toast.

I was surprised and saddened to find I only had a tablespoon of hummus left and this is entirely my own fault; my real man wouldn’t touch it.

I’d only been panicking for a minute or so, however, when I spied a bag of mixed lettuce leaves and wondered what they would be like dressed with hummus. I stirred some of my Balsamic-Honey Vinaigrette into the hummus, that’s all, and it was a lovely lunch although I don’t think this particular dressing is suitable for keeping in your handbag!

A Little Rant about a Choc Ice

Not being quite full I hunted around for some lunch pudding and found a box of choc ices in the freezer that looked tempting, but sadly all the actual ices were not exactly as implied on the packet!  Maybe the almond crop has failed!  Never mind it tasted fine.

I’ll try and eat something more interesting for my next post but I wanted to get the above off my chest.  Now all I need to do is get it off my hips!

5 Unusual Salad Dressings to keep in your Handbag!

Yesterday I had a wander around Padstow – it was closed!!!  Almost all the restaurant and about half of the shops said they would not be open in January.  Luckily it was a incredibly lovely day, January 11^th but more like late March, and Padstow was in bloom – I took all these pictures!

11^th January 2012 - Padstow, Cornwall

I met up with my friend Carol and we went to The Cornish Arms, an old pub in the nearby village of St. Merryn which has two claims to fame; 1) I used to work there, and 2) it is now one of Rick Stein’s places.

Lunch was very good, I had a Colston Basset Stilton and Tomato Tart with lots of rocket.  Tomatoes and blue cheese don’t immediately spring to my mind as a great flavour pairing but it worked well.  Carol had a homemade burger which she said was excellent and ordered salad instead of chips.  

We were, however, rather irritated!

We were both vexed about the same thing which often irritates us when eating out in the UK – 

Why in this country are salads not dressed, dressing not offered and the makings not available on the table???

As it happened I had just bought some Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise so we resorted to that to cheer up our salads!  I am seriously thinking of making myself a little Travelling Seasoning Kit to keep with me when I go out; vinaigrette, chilli flakes, sea salt, black garlic, smoked black pepper, vanilla sugar, that sort of thing.

Here are a few dressing recipes you might like to keep in your handbag!!! 

Caramelised Red Wine Vinaigrette

This a good way to use up leftover wine if you really, really can’t drink it! News from the future - here is a great post giving 23 more ideas for "leftover wine". 

~   Boil together 60ml of (leftover) red wine, 60 ml of water and 60g of sugar till it caramelises. 

~   Add 240ml of red wine and reduce the whole lot down to 60ml. 

~   Whisk in 120ml good olive oil, taste and season – black pepper would be good.

Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

~   Whisk together the juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp of poppyseeds, ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest and a generous grinding of black pepper.

~   Whisk in 180ml good olive oil.

~   Add crunchy sea salt to taste.

Sweet Chilli Dressing

~   Whisk together Thai sweet chilli sauce and lime juice.

~   Whisk in 2 tsp sesame oil and 4 tbsp light olive oil.

~   Taste and season.

  

Burnt Orange Dressing  

~   Simply boil down pure orange juice till it is reduced to a syrup 

~   Whisk in a little Dijon mustard and 2 parts of olive oil for one part of reduced orange juice.

Balsamic Honey Mustard Dressing  ~ see here for recipe

West Indian Pepper Wine

I used to serve this traditional condiment with Seafood Chowder for drizzling purposes, it contains no wine nor any pepper; pepper refers to chilli pepper and I'm not too sure about the wine bit. It is very simple, however:

~   Put a dried chilli or two into a sealable bottle (small enough to go in your handbag) and top up with rum.

~   Seal tightly and leave for a day or so but as long as you like before using.

Garlic, onions, anchovies, herbs, cheese and other fresh ingredients. can be added to these dressings to some advantage, e.g. blue cheese crumbled into the Balsamic Dressing is very good, but please do consider the ambient temperature of your handbag!

24 more delicious vinaigrette recipes here.