For the Indian-inspired dinner I did a few nights ago, I decided to try to find a salad dressing that would complement the vegetable coconut curry and the Caribbean rice dish. A green salad is not something very well known in India, I surmise, but lots of people who have moved from India to English-speaking countries have dressing recipes on their blogs. Actually most of them were simple, French type vinaigrettes. That wasn’t what I wanted. So when I happened upon this recipe, from the website Food Reference, I thought it sounded good. With turmeric, cumin, ground coriander, garlic, lemon juice and EVOO. It’s concocted in the food processor, then it will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator, so the recipe says.

Making half a recipe (using a base of 1 cup of EVOO) I didn’t have any idea how many servings it made, so I’ve estimated. With the inclusion of the turmeric, it makes a bright orange mixture, as you can see above.

This recipe does contain a little bit of sugar, and I think a salad with some fruit added would do nicely here. I had ample fruit in the curry and the rice, so I didn’t use any. I’d think some apple would be lovely, or even orange segments. And some almonds too. This dressing may not be something that appeals to everyone, but it really did do nicely with the curry. You can also use this as a marinade for meat too. I haven’t tried that – if I do (and I have enough left over to try it) I’ll write an addendum here.

The dressing – because of the inclusion of the spices – has some graininess to it. I suggest you stir it well, but then let it sit for about 30 seconds or so before actually adding it to a salad. That way the spices will mostly sink to the bottom. I think it’s the turmeric that contributes most of that.

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A year ago: Tomato, Blue Cheese and Saffron Vinaigrette

My eye is always on the lookout for new salad dressing recipes. I have about six or so that are used regularly in my house, but most of my favorite ones have blue cheese or Feta or some kind of cheese in them. I’m still searching for a perfect simple vinaigrette recipe. I’ll probably continue to look, but in the meantime I made this one the other day. It’s quite good. Not vinaigrette nirvana, surely, but it’s good.

What’s unusual in this is dill and fresh ginger. Except in an Asian style dressing, ginger is an odd ingredient. And what’s even more interesting is that we couldn’t even taste the ginger. It contained a tablespoonful of freshly grated ginger, and it just became part of the subtle background.

The recipe originally came from Foster’s Market. I don’t remember who got me to Sara Foster’s blog – her recipe blog, but I’ve been reading it for awhile. She doesn’t post stories. Just a recipe or two now and then. The market is in Durham, North Carolina. And Sara Foster used to work for Martha Stewart’s group, but in 1990 she and her husband decided they really wanted to put down roots and open a gourmet market and deli. It’s been very successful and I’ve printed out a number of recipes, but this is the first one I actually tried.

So, it’s a simple vinaigrette, but contains fresh ginger, fresh dill, plus the juice and zest from a lemon. That’s it. When I got done making it, mine was too tart (probably because my Meyer lemon contained more juice than a standard lemon), so I added a tech of sugar and a bit more olive oil.

You do know the best way to taste-test a salad dressing, don’t you? Take a piece of greens/lettuce and dip it into the dressing. Not dunk it, but just a little bit – about as much as would be on the lettuce if it were tossed in dressing. Then taste it. Add something if it needs it and try it again with another lettuce leaf. Add salt, usually too. I always under-salt things, figuring people can add more if they want to. If you taste a salad dressing, though, it should probably be more salty than usual because the dressing will be dispersed all over the greens. Anyway, I did the taste test and found it too astringent, so I adjusted it. If your fresh lemon didn’t have much juice, then you’d probably want to reduce the amount of oil you would add. Or add more juice (not more zest) from a second lemon. Salad dressings aren’t an exact science unless you specify an exact amount of lemon juice. An average lemon will contain 2-3 tablespoons of juice. Mine was definitely on the high end, maybe even 4 T.

My judgment on the dressing: it’s good. It’s exceedingly fresh tasting. Probably from the lemon juice and the dill. It would make a great dressing for a vegetable salad – like green beans, for instance. Or beets. Even potatoes, I think (but leave out the sugar). You might try the recipe without the sugar first, and see if it suits your taste. If it’s too tart, the sugar will do the trick. I served it on greens with some fresh tomatoes and radishes. And a little sprinkle of Feta.

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A year ago: Sakura Ridge B&B near Hood River, Oregon (what a great place to stay)
Two Years Ago: About Patricia Wells’ book, We’ve Always Had Paris
Three Years Ago: Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

We’re now getting some lovely frozen wild salmon fillets from Norway. The steaks are absolutely delicious. Tender, and so tasty. A salad sounded good. So I made a mayo-based Caesar dressing with some spicy heat to it. I had some lovely spring asparagus, and a perfectly ripe avocado. It was so good.

The salmon was baked on parchment paper in a 450 oven. Meanwhile, I’d made the Caesar style dressing an hour or so ahead so the flavors could meld. The asparagus was simmered over hot water in my handy-dandy asparagus steamer. The avocado was huge (thanks, Joan!) and perfectly ripe after sitting on my counter for a week! I grated some additional Parmesan on top and added some cilantro to the salad. So it wasn’t strictly speaking a traditional Caesar.

The dressing is a mayo one with all the typical Caesar ingredients. But instead of anchovies in it, I took Phillis Carey’s idea (from a Caesar dressing of hers which is my really top-favorite Caesar dressing) and used capers instead. Then I added some hot Vietnamese chili sauce to give it some zipped up heat. And I let it sit. The salad needs more dressing than you might think; just keep that in mind. But add other things to this if you’d prefer broccoli, or tomatoes, or? This was just my version with what I had on hand.

One year ago: Lemon Cake with Limoncello and Lime Mousse (oh, outstanding!)
Two years ago: Barbecued Short Ribs (my go-to recipe, always)
Three years ago: Algerian Carrots (gosh, this is a favorite in the cold side dish arena)

There’s not much of anything more boring than looking at a photo of a salad dressing sitting in a jar. So I opted to show you how I used it instead. I was making a quick dinner, but didn’t want to make a green salad. I had these little bitty tomatoes begging to be eaten, so I chopped them in half and let them marinate with the dressing. I had some extra minced shallots and Italian parsley on my chopping board so they got sprinkled on top.

The dressing recipe came from Martha Stewart Living, the 12/09 issue. From a woman who works for Omnimedia, Lucinda Scala Quinn. She’s just printed a cookbook called Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys. The magazine had several of her recipes (that she feeds her male-dominant family, including two ravenous sons) but she prefaced this one with the story that it’s her mother Rose’s recipe, and a favorite of her dad’s. With that kind of testimony I had to try it. I can’t say that I was exactly wowed by it, but it was good. Keep reading . . . .

Sometimes salad dressings need to sit and veg for awhile before the flavors marry. I made the dressing, shook it up and promptly poured it on the tomatoes. Good, but not great.

But, when I tossed it with a green salad the next day it was wonderful! I liked it a LOT.  And I might try the option of using garlic instead of shallot, or maybe both. I’ll make this again, but I definitely will let it sit overnight first.

A year ago: Graham Cracker Chewy Pecan Bars
Two years ago: Indian Pepper Chicken

I was looking up a recipe on my own blog the other day. Since my computer is right here in the kitchen, it’s easier for me to pull up my blog and find the recipe than it is to find it in the recipe program I use. And I was astounded to find that THIS recipe had never been posted to my blog. My goodness. Can hardly believe it. I’ve done a bunch of salad dressings, but this is one of my favorites.

It does have a bunch of ingredients in this. But as I’ve mentioned before about a couple of my garlic-enhanced salad dressings, the first thing I do is combine the fresh garlic (I always use the fresh stuff from a bulb) and salt in the blender. I whiz it up for about 30 seconds and just let it sit. Then, I leisurely find all the other ingredients needed for the dressing. Once they’re at hand, then I begin adding them to the blender jar. In this case, all the other ingredients (olive oil, canola oil, blue cheese, Parmigiano cheese, salt, pepper, celery seeds, dry mustard, are piled into the jar. Then you whiz it up until it’s thoroughly combined.

Oh, I forgot about the lime juice – from fresh limes, please. I happened to make a double batch, because when I make it, I might as well make a bunch. It keeps for weeks in the refrigerator.

There is no cream in the dressing. I call it “creamy” because once you whiz up the blue cheese, it makes it creamy colored. This is really a vinaigrette type – that’s why I included the photo of the dressing in the blender before I homogenized it. It uses just 2 ounces of blue cheese – so this isn’t like a creamy blue cheese dressing. The blue provides a nice undertone; it’s not the star of the show. Sometimes after it’s been in the refrigerator for awhile the dressing does separate. But I just shake it well and it’s fine. Because it contains some olive oil, when it’s refrigerated it solidifies, so just take it out of the refrigerator about 10 minutes before you need it and shake it. It should be of a thick pouring consistency.

I’ve been making this dressing for so long I don’t know it’s origin. It really isn’t “mine.” There are no notes on the page in my ancient recipe binder. It’s a family favorite, though, and worth making.

A year ago: Apple Pear Upside Down Cake
Two years ago: Scott’s Broccoli Salad

If you read my post yesterday, about steeping chicken, then you already know I made a chicken & greens salad. I had a recipe in my repertoire that I hadn’t tried before, from Michael Chiarello (Food Network), from 2006, according to my notes. His recipe was an arugula salad, with a citrus vinaigrette, with grilled chicken and a toasted spice rub. Well, I didn’t have time to go through all of that. Didn’t feel like doing the grill thing for just two chicken breasts. So I turned to an old stand-by chicken cooking method I haven’t used in a long time – submerging boneless, skinless chicken breasts in hot, just below boiling water and letting it sit. It’s like steeping tea – where tea takes 5 minutes to come to full flavor – chicken takes about 20-30 minutes to cook all the way through.

Meanwhile, I made the vinaigrette. You can see it there at the left, still in the food processor bowl. What intrigued me about this recipe was the use of whole oranges. It also has red onion, fresh sage, salt, pepper and olive oil. And it’s all made in the food processor. I added a bit of mayo for flavor.

If you want to use the original recipe for this, by all means go for it. Some people who made Chiarello’s version didn’t care for the dressing (too bitter or they thought it was unappetizing). I didn’t even read any of this before I made the dressing. It might depend on what kind of oranges you used – I used navel oranges (sweet) and they actually had quite a bit of pith attached, so am surprised it wasn’t more bitter than it is. I like the dressing – it’s refreshing. But I added mayo to it, too (not in the original recipe). With all the fruit in it, the dressing comes through as a low-fat type.

That was my aim – something lighter in fat, not so heavy as a traditional olive oil dressing.

I defrosted the chicken, steeped it in just plain water, made a different rendition of the spice rub (without toasting)  that I sprinkled all over the cooked thicken.

Here at the right you can see the moist, tender chicken strips that I tossed with the spice rub I’d made. All I did was sprinkle, turn, sprinkle turn, sprinkle turn, etc. Not overwhelming in flavor, but you definitely got the chile flavor. Mixed with the other spices in the rub, it made for delicious morsels of chicken.

I tossed the salad portion with the dressing – tasted it and added more dressing, then poured the salads out onto plates and decorated the tops with the spice-rubbed chicken strips, sliced avocado and Parmigiano-Reggiano shards. I have a ton of dressing left over, so will have to be creative with how I use it. This salad may not appeal to everyone – if you like the sour cream blue cheese type wedge salads, this won’t fit. This is a light salad, with a refreshing hint of the orange. It’s not overwhelming. And it’s also low-fat. I’m not including the calorie count because the directions include the nearly 2 cups of dressing, and I used about 1/3 cup for two salads.

A year ago: Alabama White Sauce (for Chicken)
Two years ago: Thai Chicken Chile Soup

According to the post I read about this, from David Liebovitz’ blog, his recipe for a creamy Feta salad dressing originally – in some form – came from the Joy of Cooking. I turned to my battered copy, but couldn’t find any salad dressing recipe there containing Feta cheese. I don’t think that Feta cheese as a salad ingredient came above my food radar until the 1980’s. Perhaps it was used in some ethnic parts of our country, but as a more Americanized salad component, no. So perhaps this recipe is actually more of David Liebovitz’ creation. Well, no matter, except that you need to know this dressing is really, really good. And it’s unusual. It may not look so in the picture above, but it is. The first ingredient by volume is Feta cheese. The second ingredient by volume is WATER. I know, odd, huh? Here’s what’s involved:

This happens to be a Trader Joe’s product. But what  you need to know is that it’s Greek, and made with sheep’s milk. This is my favorite Feta – because it’s not as salty. And I like the consistency. Each of these tubs (10.5 ounces of cheese) contains two rectangles of cheese, floating in brine. It keeps for weeks and weeks. Greek Feta generally is less salty than many other kinds, which I’ve learned over the years of buying it. I used to buy grocery-store type Fetas, and although they tasted okay, they were always too salty for my taste. Then when I found this one, I’ve settled on it. So that’s what I started with. Four ounces of cheese went into a bowl:

I used my handy-dandy pastry fork (it’s much larger than regular forks, although you wouldn’t know it from the photo – that bowl is about 6 inches in diameter) and mashed (crumbled) up the Feta, per David’s recipe. I sprinkled in some dried thyme (you can use fresh thyme or oregano, or half as much of the dried types) which you can see from top to bottom in the middle.

Then I added 2 T. of red wine vinegar (a really good cabernet vinegar I bought at Williams-Sonoma, actually) and mixed that in. The all-white Feta turned a light shade of pink. Then the 2 T. of olive oil was drizzled in. That was mixed up.

Water was added at this point – 5 T. worth, with some salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt, though, since Feta is salty enough in my book. Use the fork to stir it up. And you’re done. This dressing took about 5 minutes to make. So, not only is it tasty, but it’s also quick and easy too. And, the dressing is about 90 calories and 9 grams of fat per serving. I’m not sure, but I think the dressing would probably dress a salad for 8 people, so that would make it even healthier. I used about 3 T. for a salad for two of us. According to David, the dressing will keep in the refrigerator for about 4 days. So keep that in mind. But try it, you should.

A year ago: Unstuffed Sweet & Sour Cabbage (this was a really delish and easy ground beef and cabbage dish, where the cabbage isn’t stuffed, but has all the components of the traditional version – just easier and just as tasty)

For years I’ve been trying to find a recipe something like the tomato vinaigrette served at the Soup Plantation. (The dressing isn’t on their website anymore, so perhaps they don’t serve it any longer.) It’s mostly tomatoes with a vinaigrette dressing around it. But it’s served as part of their salad dressing options. I’ve searched for recipes in my own copious files (nothing), looked in all my cookbooks for anything similar (nothing) and looked several times on the internet for something similar (nothing). In the deep pan at Soup Plantation it looks almost like plain canned tomatoes, except that the top is shiny with oil – the oil isn’t exactly visible, just shiny, so you know there’s oil there.

I’ve never tried starting out with a can of tomatoes and attempting to concoct a dressing. I know there must be oil and vinegar in it, and sugar. And the tomatoes. Not sun dried. Nor oven charred. Not even fresh, I think, but canned. The tomatoes must be added in at the end because they’re still in small chunks, like right out of the can. It doesn’t have balsamic vinegar in it, either. But that’s all I can determine. Every time I find a tomato based vinaigrette in a magazine or online, I save it.

For this dressing (which isn’t really like Soup Plantation’s, sorry to say) I started with an old recipe I found online, years and years ago. It was credited to a tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. After I got through making it I decided it needed something else, so added some blue cheese to it. Note if you look closely at the picture, you can see some saffron threads floating in it, as well as a few crumbles of the blue cheese.

Two years ago: Asian (cole) Slaw (a family favorite with grilled meats)

There’s no question that I like basil. And our basil bush is actually thriving in our early summer weather. Last week I augmented it with some farmer’s market basil. I’d seen this recipe over at Gluten Free Girl’s blog, and knew I’d like it. This dressing resembles pesto, but there’s no garlic, cheese or pine nuts in it. If I make this again I might add some garlic. Just because I like it. It’s made with grapeseed oil, and I’d just read recently about how healthy food scientists are thinking about this neutral-tasting oil. It’s better for us than canola, they think.

The dressing was quick and easy to make (in the blender). It took no more than 5 minutes to do it all, maybe even less. It’s a mild dressing, surprisingly enough. I expected it to have a heavy-duty basil flavor, but it didn’t. If pesto is too strong a flavor for you, this might suit your tastes. I found that it took more dressing than I expected to dress a salad for 4 people. I didn’t use it all, but most of it. Do use it within a day. You know how basil gets after a few days in a dry kind of environment – the leaves begin to break down. Same thing happens in the dressing. So use it soon.

A year ago: Peanut Butter Cookies
Two year ago: Hash Brown Casserole

If you leave out the chicken, this could easily be a side dish too.

If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, then you know right off the bat that after reading the title, this must be a recipe from Phillis Carey. She doesn’t want you to miss anything about the dish, and perhaps pass it by, so she tempts you with the major ingredients. To make sure.

And indeed, I might have passed on this recipe (I don’t make couscous very often since there isn’t much of anything healthy about couscous – it’s just tiny pasta). I don’t dislike couscous, but know that’s it’s just a high glycemic carb and has next to no nutrition in it. But after tasting it, well, yup, I’ll be making it. In my book the clincher was the lemony flavor (there’s a LOT in the dressing). Oh, and the dried cranberries were also mighty tasty too. You don’t expect dried cranberries in a couscous salad, but they add a lovely sweet zing to it. The garbanzos add some healthy protein and fiber, and you could probably add more veggies to this if you’d like. Phillis told us that when she makes this and she thoroughly enjoys the leftovers for days after, since it keeps well in the refrigerator. The thing about couscous is that no matter how much dressing you put on it, it’ll absorb more and more. So that’s why you don’t want to add the lemon curry dressing until just before serving. That way some of it will still be moistening the salad and not soaked into the pasta. Yet.

A year ago: Sarah’s Ginger Scones