Salad Dressings

The fresh herbs we receive from the farm lend themselves to making delicious fresh salad dressing to go with all the butter lettuce, red romaine, and other greens in our shares.

It is especially tasty to combine them with the citrus fruit of the season. Remember when you make your own, even if you need to use some non-local ingredients, you are reducing the transport of commercially prepared dressings.

Ingredients

Basic recipe:

• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup oil: olive, canola, a mix, or your preferred oil*
• 3-4 tablespoons fresh dill, stems removed and roughly chopped
• ½ teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 clove minced garlic (optional)
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Blend in food processor or blender until the herbs are finely chopped and distributed through the dressing.

Experiment with the basic dressing and adjust amounts to your taste. I like an even balance of oil and acid, although most recipes call for more oil than acid. You might like more garlic.

Suggested combinations:

• Lime juice with cilantro, add ½ teaspoon powdered cumin and/or chile powder
• Orange juice with cilantro, add a dab of orange marmalade, omit garlic
• Grapefruit with dill, add a small amount of honey
• Lemon juice and oregano
• Lemon juice and mint, with honey or a dab of mint jelly
• Lemon juice with pesto you have preserved, cut back on oil since there is plenty in the pesto

Suggested add-ins to vary the flavor:

• Citrus zest
• Honey or Dijon mustard
• Egg yolk (provides thickening but reduces the time the dressing keeps)

*Specialty oils such as walnut, roasted peanut, sesame. While these seem expensive in the initial purchase, a little goes a long way. Walnut oil works miracles with bitter greens and spicy roots like radishes.

Submitted by Lorraine Glazar, Tucson CSA