TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
HOME & LIVING
MAKING YOUR OWN SALAD DRESSINGS
Breaking the bottle habit
¼ tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
¼ teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-
virgin olive oil
By Daniel Neman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A salad without dressing is
just a pile of limp, uninspired
lettuce.
It is the dressing that
makes a salad sing. It brings
the greens to life, it makes
the produce productive. What
was once mere vitamins and
roughage and something that
sticks to your teeth becomes,
with the measured applica-
tion of a dressing, a dish to
praise and celebrate.
And it is all due to some
oil and a little vinegar, and
maybe yogurt or a splash of
lemon juice.
Salad dressing is something
you can make yourself; the
possibilities are endless. Try
adding a combination of dif-
ferent herbs to oil and vinegar,
or go for a sweet dressing with
honey and a bit of fruit.
Best of all, dressings are
both fast and easy to make
— unless you make seven dif-
ferent dressings at one time.
Then they take longer than
you might think and are kind
of a hassle.
I made seven dressings for
this story, both vinaigrettes
and yogurt-based dressings.
Some were tart, one was
sweet and all were beauti-
fully balanced. Each one was
perfect with lettuce, but many
could also be served with
vegetables or even fruit.
I started with a Bistro
Vinaigrette. This is the dress-
ing we have on hand at all
times at my house, a dress-
ing I sometimes eat literally
every day of the week. It is my
favorite dressing, and if you
try it, it will probably become
your favorite dressing, too.
It is so good that I decided
to write a story about salad
dressings just so I could write
about Bistro Vinaigrette.
It is a simple vinaigrette (oil
mixed with vinegar or lemon
juice), enlivened, as many
are, with Dijon mustard. But
it stands out in a few ways:
It has chopped shallots in it,
and the shallots are allowed
to rest in the vinegar and
salt for 10 minutes before the
mustard and oil are added.
This extra step smooths out
the shallots’ sharp edge.
And there is one more key
factor that makes the dress-
ing so good — it does not use
olive oil, which is typically
used for vinaigrettes. Olive oil
has too strong a fl avor for this
dressing. A neutral-fl avored
oil, such as grapeseed or
canola, keeps the dressing’s
delicate fl avors in harmony.
Next, I made an herb
vinaigrette, which means the
time has come to talk about
emulsions.
You know how oil doesn’t
mix with water or vinegar or,
for that matter, egg yolk? How
it separates into a gross, oily
mess?
When you emulsify a dress-
ing, you pour oil very slowly
into vinegar (or lemon juice)
and usually something like
mustard or an egg yolk while
whisking it together very fast.
Through a miracle of science
that would take a long time to
explain, and I’d probably get it
wrong, the oil and other ingre-
dients blend into one another
and can stay combined for up
to several days.
If they separated again
Hillary Levin /St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Homemade Strawberry Yogurt Dressing.
Hillary Levin /St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Homemade Bistro
Vinaigrette, with shallot
and mustard.
its vinaigrette named for its
owner-chef, Paul Elbling.
Sauce Vinaigrette “Chef
Paul” has more going on in
it than the other dressings
I made. Along with the egg
yolk, mustard, vinegar and
oil — two types of oil, actu-
ally — it has white wine and
a wealth of aromatic ingre-
dients. These include thyme,
oregano, nutmeg, rosemary,
basil, garlic and white pepper.
In the wrong hands, this
would end up as a brash
cacophony of fl avors. But Chef
Paul knows what he is doing.
His hand is subtle, and the
result is exquisite. This is a
dressing to serve on a special
occasion, such as happening
to have it on hand (which is
likely, because you make a
quart and a half of the stuff
at a time), or you are simply
in the mood for a sublime
dressing.
On the other side of the
fl avor spectrum, and earning
a much lower score for degree
of diffi culty, is Strawberry-Yo-
gurt Dressing. This is a simple
dressing of strawberries and
yogurt, plus some honey and
half a gill of orange juice.
It is easy to make, but it
is deceptive. The sweetness
of the berries and the honey
play off the tang of the yogurt,
with the sweet tanginess of
the orange juice there to tie it
all together.
I turned to the inimical and
irreplaceable Jacques Pepin
for one dressing. The great
chef’s creamy yogurt dressing
is the best of both worlds: It is
a vinaigrette and it also uses
yogurt.
It is tangy, as you might
expect, but it does not go over-
board. In Pepin’s hands, it is a
well-balanced combination of
just fi ve ingredients. Only salt
and pepper are added to the
oil, vinegar and yogurt. It is
the fastest and simplest of all
the dressings I made, and one
of the most satisfying.
The last dressing, also
yogurt-based, is savory and
quite unlike any of the others.
It could come straight out of
the Mideast; the yogurt is
blended with tahini, lemon
juice and garlic.
It works as a great dipping
sauce for crudites as well as a
dressing for salad.
before you’re done with the
dressing, just shake it vigor-
ously together in a jar with
a lid and it will recombine
certainly long enough to enjoy
your salad.
The Herb Vinaigrette is a
great example of an emulsion.
You slowly add corn oil to a
beaten egg yolk, whisking (or
using a blender) all the while.
That makes an easy emulsion,
but what makes this dressing
superb are the ingredients
you add after it is combined:
minced garlic, minced parsley,
minced dill and minced basil
for a fresh, herbaceous taste,
and some wine vinegar for
just the right bite.
The same principle holds
true for the classic Caesar
Dressing, which is another of
my all-time favorites. Here,
the oil is enthusiastically
whisked into a mixture of egg
yolk, lemon juice and Dijon
mustard.
That emulsion actually
wouldn’t be bad on its own,
but we are here to praise the
Caesar dressing — not to
bury it — because of the other
ingredients that are added to
it. Using a sharp knife, you
make a paste of anchovy fi l-
lets, garlic and salt, and whisk
that into the emulsion.
If it sounds complicated,
don’t worry. As Caesar himself
said, “Experience is the
teacher of all things.”
Note: I am well aware
that the Caesar Salad was
named for its creator, Caesar
Cardini. However, as far as
we know, Cardini never said
“Experience is the teacher of
all things.”
My next emulsifi ed dress-
ing came from a restaurant
STRAWBERRY-
that, for many years, was
YOGURT DRESSING
considered the fi nest in
Yield: 4 cups
Richmond, Virginia. Of all
the things La Petite France
16 ounces (2 cups) plain yogurt
did well, one of the best was
1½ pints strawberries, hulled
and coarsely pureed
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons
honey
Empty the yogurt into a
bowl, but do not whisk it
(which would make it become
watery). Whisk together the
strawberry puree, orange juice
and honey. Gently stir into the
yogurt. Chill before serving.
Per (2 tablespoon) serving: 28
calories; 1 g fat; 1 g satu-
rated fat; 2 mg cholesterol; 1 g
protein; 4 g carbohydrate; 4 g
sugar; 1 g fi ber; 5 mg sodium;
17 mg calcium
— Recipe from “The Frog/
Commissary Cookbook” by
Steven Poses, Anne Clark and
Becky Roller
BISTRO
VINAIGRETTE
Yield: About 2/3 cup
1 tablespoon fi nely
diced shallot
½ teaspoon fi ne salt
2 tablespoons wine
vinegar (red or white)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons (3 ounces)
neutral oil, such as
sunfl ower seed,
grapeseed or canola
Freshly ground pepper,
white if available
1. In a medium bowl,
combine the shallot, salt and
vinegar with a wooden spoon.
Let rest for 10 minutes to take
the edge off the shallot.
2. Stir in the mustard. Pour
in the oil slowly, stirring all
the while to create an emul-
sion. Sprinkle generously with
pepper. Taste and adjust the
seasoning. Cover and refriger-
ate until ready to serve. Keeps
up to 1 week in the refrigerator
in a glass jar with a tight lid.
Per (2 tablespoon) serving: 155
calories; 17 g fat; 3 g saturated
fat; no cholesterol; no protein;
1 g carbohydrate; 1 g sugar; 1
g fi ber; 311 mg sodium; 3 mg
calcium
— Recipe from “Tasting Paris”
by Clotilde Dusoulier
CREAMY YOGURT
DRESSING
Yield: 4 servings
1 tablespoon white
wine vinegar
HERB
VINAIGRETTE
Yield: About 1 ½ cups
1 egg
1 cup corn oil
Whisk together the vinegar, 1/3 cup wine vinegar
salt, yogurt and pepper. Whisk 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
in the oil. Serve immediately
½ teaspoon minced garlic
or store in refrigerator.
2 tablespoons
minced parsley
Per serving: 87 calories; 8 g
2 tablespoons minced dill
fat; 2 g saturated fat; 4 mg
1 tablespoon minced fresh
cholesterol; 2 g protein; 1 g
basil or 1 teaspoon dried
carbohydrate; 1 g sugar; no
fi ber; 446 mg sodium; 28 mg
Mix the egg in a food pro-
calcium
cessor or blender, or whisk
— Recipe from “Essential by hand, until light-colored.
Pepin” by Jacques Pepin Gradually add the corn oil so
that it is well blended. Add
the remaining ingredients
and mix thoroughly. Chill
before using. Store in refrig-
erator.
SAUCE
VINAIGRETTE
‘CHEF PAUL’
Yield: 6 cups
1 egg yolk
¼ cup Dijon mustard
1½ cups white wine
1½ cups wine vinegar
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons dried thyme
¼ teaspoon white pepper
3/8 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried basil
2 garlic cloves
2 cups salad oil (such as
vegetable, corn, canola,
grapeseed or saffl ower oil)
½ cup olive oil
Per (2 tablespoon) serving:
172 calories; 19 g fat; 3 g sat-
urated fat; 16 mg cholesterol;
1 g protein; 1 g carbohydrate;
no sugar; 1 g fi ber; 200 mg
sodium; 5 mg calcium
— Recipe from “The Frog/
Commissary Cookbook” by
Steven Poses, Anne Clark and
Becky Roller
CAESAR DRESSING
Yield: 3/4 cup
3 oil-packed anchovy
fi llets, chopped
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1. Have all the ingredients
3/4 teaspoon (or more)
ready before beginning. In a
kosher salt
blender, put the egg yolk, mus- 1 large egg yolk
tard, wine, wine vinegar, salt, 2 tablespoons fresh
thyme, white pepper, oregano,
lemon juice
nutmeg, rosemary and basil.
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Mix well at medium speed for ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons
30 seconds, taking care not to
vegetable oil
turn off the blender.
3 tablespoons Parmesan,
2. With the blender still on,
fi nely grated
slowly add the oils, pouring
them in a very thin stream into
1. Mound anchovies, garlic
the liquid in the blender. Take
and salt on a cutting board.
care to add the oil slowly so
Using the side of a chef’s
the dressing will not separate. knife, mash and chop until
Refrigerate before serving.
well combined, then continue
to work mixture, holding
Per (2 tablespoon) serving: 107 knife blade at an angle, until
calories; 12 g fat; 1 g satu-
a smooth paste forms. (Alter-
rated fat; 4 mg cholesterol; 1
nately, you can use a mortar
g protein; no carbohydrate;
and pestle or mini chopper to
no sugar; no fi ber; 107 mg
do this step.)
sodium; 2 mg calcium
2. Whisk egg yolk, lemon
juice and mustard in a me-
— Recipe from “Chef Paul’s La dium bowl. Place a kitchen
Petite France” by Paul Elbling towel in a medium saucepan,
then place bowl in pan. (This
holds the bowl in place while
you whisk with one hand and
pour oil with the other.)
Yield: 1 cup
3. Adding drop by drop to
start and whisking constantly,
drizzle a few drops of oil into
1 plump, moist garlic
yolk mixture. Continue, going
clove, green germ
slowly, until mixture looks
removed if necessary
slightly thickened and glossy.
¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
Continue to whisk, gradually
½ cup plain low-fat yogurt
adding oil in a slow, steady
2 tablespoons freshly
stream until all oil has been
squeezed lemon juice
used and mixture looks like
½ teaspoon salt
mayonnaise. Add a dash of
water and whisk, adjusting
In a food processor or
blender, mince the garlic. Add with more water if needed,
the tahini, yogurt, lemon juice until dressing is the consis-
tency of heavy cream.
and salt, and puree to blend.
4. Add anchovy mixture
Taste for seasoning. Store the
dressing in the refrigerator for and Parmesan and whisk until
smooth. Taste and adjust sea-
up to 1 week; shake to blend
soning with salt, if needed.
again before using.
TAHINI-LEMON-
YOGURT DRESSING
Per (2 tablespoon) serving: 55
calories; 4 g fat; 1 g satu-
rated fat; 1 mg cholesterol; 3
g protein; 3 g carbohydrate;
1 g sugar; 1 g fi ber; 152 mg
sodium; 26 mg calcium
— Recipe from “Salad as a
Meal” by Patricia Wells
Per (2 tablespoon) serving:
103 calories; 11 g fat; 8 g satu-
rated fat; 33 mg cholesterol;
2 g protein; 1 g carbohydrate;
1 g sugar; 1 g fi ber; 219 mg
sodium; 37 mg calcium
— Recipe by Rick Martinez,
via Bon Appetit