Salad days
Every cook has their bête noire - the item, against all logic and rational decisions, you just can’t convince yourself to make. I do the lion’s share of cooking in my house, but when Bryan and I first started dating, I started the campaign to make his official cooking duty “salad dresser”.
He is a voracious salad eater. Me, not so much. His toppings of choice: raw everything — carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes. Mine: Anything that covers up the taste of lettuce, and the more the better — cheese (please!), fruit (dried, fresh or cooked), nuts, roasted veggies, meat, herbs, grains, basically anything you can pick up with a fork other than raw vegetables.
I know I should eat more fresh, raw veggies, so I thought it was a good thing when he started stocking salad greens in my fridge. Imagine my horror when it was revealed that his favorite kind of salad dressing, the only one that he would even consider at the store, was one that turned my stomach. The culprit? Newman’s Own Light Italian.
Sounds innocuous enough, I know, but it is also my parents’ salad dressing of choice, and I associate its taste with one too many greens-only, slightly wilty salads. That was the moment when I started selling the virtues of DIY salad dressing.
“It’s so easy! It only takes a minute!” “You can make it however you want — add anything you like.” “It’s so much cheaper, and fresher tasting, too!” They all sound a little hollow when the speaker has never once been witnessed making her own salad dressing.
The passage of time changes all things, though. Whether it was the wrinkling of my nose every time the Newman’s Own came out, or the effusive praise I heaped on any early attempt at creating a dressing, Bryan has fully embraced his role as salad dresser. In fact, he’s asked me several times when I am going to blog about his salads. So, in celebration of my lovely husband, who exuberantly takes over the odious kitchen tasks of my life, I present his dressing recipe.
Bryan’s Own Salad Dressing
- olive oil
- one lemon
- 3/4 tsp mustard powder
- salt
- pepper
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp chili powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 clove garlic or some shallot
Note: This is truly a “to taste” recipe — measures above are approximate, and ratios are based on nothing but how Bryan likes his salad to taste.
The rule of thumb for oil to lemon juice is typically 3 to 1, but in nearly every case, you have lots and lots of olive oil, and a finite amount of lemon juice, so start at 2 to 1, and add oil to taste.
I find it easiest to squeeze the lemon directly into a measuring cup, so you know how much you’re working with. For us, a lemon will dress approximately 8 salads.
Start seasoning! Bryan likes plenty of salt, pepper and mustard, a moderate amount of cumin, and a little chili powder and cayenne pepper to spice it up. Feel free to adjust those measures to your own taste. Go crazy; add a second garlic clove if you love it.
We pour ours in a jam jar, for easy shaking. If you’re making it all in the measuring cup, use a fork to mix it all up, and give it a taste. Adjust as necessary. If you are like Bryan, make it first, before you start prepping your toppings. Then stick it in the fridge, to get the desired salad dressing chill.
The dressing will keep for at least a week, so make more if you want it. Note that all the flavors will get stronger over time.
(My other campaign, still underway, is to make him the bread maker — specifically, the baguette guy. I am keeping my fingers crossed!)
