The hunt continued…
Since cutting out store-bought salad dressings (and all that extra ‘stuff’ they come with) I’ve found some tasty – and simple – homemade alternatives, with my favorite easily being the Catalina (or, as Barb calls it: ‘puréed vampire guts’). Closely following would be the Asian-inspired rice vinegar/soy sauce dressing, and the incredibly good poppy seed dressing I found with the winter fruit salad.
The thing is, while Rich really likes the Asian and poppy seed dressings when used with their respective ‘signature’ salads, he’s not been feeling the love for any other as a generic salad dressing (he prefers this honey mustard on chicken or as a dunk with pretzels).
Enter this creamy bit o’ garlicky goodness I found after a Google Search (All Praise da Google). I added an extra clove of garlic, used 25 year old balsamic vinegar in place of red wine vinegar, and was totally out of anchovy filets, so added black olives and some capers; still…
SUCCESS! Served over romaine with English cucumber, roasted, spiced chick peas, shredded carrot, and diced celery (I had onion on the side) – this one got the Richard seal of approval (YAY!).
INGREDIENTS
•4 cloves of garlic
•1/4 cup of balsamic or red wine vinegar
•3/4 cup mayonnaise
•4 black olives, chopped
•1/2 tsp capers
•2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
•2 tsp Dijon mustard
•2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
•1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
•1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
•Salt and black pepper to taste
Purée everything but the olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a food processor, fitted with the metal blade, until smooth.
With the processor running, slowly add the olive oil through the feeder tube until creamy and emulsified.
Check for seasoning and adjust to taste – I didn’t feel the need to add any additional salt, and we normally add pepper at the table anyway, so left that out as well.
Mmmmm, salad!