Salad Dressings, Dips or Marindes

Have you every read the back of a salad dressing bottle? The ingredient list is filled with poly-syllabic words like monosulfosis and polydextrosonity (I made those up). And nothing tastes better than dressing you make at home. It's easy, tasty and made with the best ingredients you can get your hands on.

Granted, no dressing you make at home is going to have a shelf life of a hundred years but be honest, aren't you a little disturbed about how long store-bought dressing lasts, even after you open it?

Thought so.

In light of the above, I have assembled my three favorite (at least for now) make at home dressings.

Honey Mustard
Garlic Dijon Vinaigrette
Bacon Shallot Vinaigrette

Honey Mustard is the easiest thing I've ever made that tastes this good. This is great with chicken tenderloins coated in almond meal or crushed Ritz crackers and fried. It's also great with french fries and exceptional on salad with the aforementioned chicken cut up on top.

Ingredients:
5 tbsp good honey
3 tbsp good dijon (I like Grey Poupon)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Directions: Mix extremely well. Yes, that's it. Just mix. I told you it was easy!

Garlic Dijon Vinaigrette is also extremely easy just with more ingredients. This is the dressing from my Panzanella recipe. It's just as fabulous as a marinade for chicken or on regular salad with feta cheese. Yum!

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup good olive oil
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp basil
salt and pepper

Directions: Whisk vigorously.

Bacon Shallot Vinaigrette is a little bit more involved but if you have a blender, that will make it easier. I use this dressing on a salad that I make with chicken slices, grapes, dried cranberries, pistacios and pears. The slightly onion-y, saltyness of the dressing compliments the sweetness of the fruits quite nicely in my opinion.

Ingredients:

1 large garlic clove, chopped

1 small shallot, chopped1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp good honey
1 tbsp dried tarragon
2 slices cooked bacon
salt and pepper

In a small saute pan, add a little olive oil and the shallot and garlic clove. Cook a couple of minutes until golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. When cool, add to your blender. Add all the other ingredients to the blender. Blend.

I store all of these in the fridge in jam jars for about a week. Having homemade dressings completely made and on hand make dinners and lunches even easier. Marinade, dressing or dip, these three are a great addition to your fridge!