One of my favorite salad dressings just got a little bit better, with just a few, tiny adjustments that I really should’ve thought to try long, long ago.
The dressing? French. Not unlike the Catalina dressing on the shelves at your local market, but with, I believe it is safe to say, a heckuva lot less sugar and a lot more true flavor.
The adjustments? Oh, so very simple, and oh, so very, very good…
INGREDIENTS
•1/4 cup sugar
•1/2 onion, chopped
•1/4 tsp paprika
•1/4 tsp celery salt
•1/4 tsp dry mustard
•1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/4 tsp granulated garlic
•1/4 cup cider vinegar
•1/3 cup ‘sup! (or ketchup)
•1/2 cup safflower oil
Add the sugar, onion, and seasonings to a blender jar and top with the ‘sup! and the vinegar.
Pulse a couple of times to combine and purée the onion then, with the blender running, sl-o-o-o-wly drizzle the safflower oil in through the hole in the lid to allow the dressing to emulsify.
Note: I don’t know if it was just this batch, or the weather, or the safflower oil; but I ended up using just a tad less than the called for one half cup and ended up with a perfect, thick, rich, almost creamy dressing.
Nice, no?
Practically perfect on a salad, of course, but also pretty darned tasty when tossed over carrot sticks and set aside to rest in the fridge overnight. A sprinkling of fresh parsley and a quick toss’ll give you a very nice munchie. Or, you could try a vintage recipe my mom clipped from a Kraft dinner box: jardinière salad – a pasta salad of a different color. It really is all good.