<p>I decided to make a salad as an extra dish to bring to dinner tomorrow. The salad will likely have greens, mozzerella or parmesan shavings, dried cherries or cranberries, maybe a few pecans, a little onion and some artisan garlic bread cubes (actually suppose to be an Tuscan Bread Salad) and some a few olives. I don’t know might throw some other stuff in there - veggie wise.</p>
<p>Can anyone pass on a simple vinegarette that is not too sweet, maybe has a little parmesan in it???</p>
<p>1 part balsamic vinegar, 2 parts olive oil, salt, freshly cracked pepper, plus whatever else appeals: parmesan cheese, fresh thyme, oregano or other fresh herbs. Maybe some minced shallots. Pulse in blender until emulsified.</p>
<p>If you want it sweeter, you can add a bit of brown sugar, honey or a bit of cherry jam, cranberry sauce or cran-apple juice. (Maybe 1-2 tsp per cup of vinaigrette) </p>
<p>You can substitute lemon or lime juice for the balsamic, but you will need to taste and possibly adjust the tartness with a sweetner.</p>
<p>Just olive oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. If you have some powdered mustard, that will help emulsify and thicken the dressing. Balsamic vinegar if you like sweet – either regular or white balsamic. Red or white wine vinegar if you want tart. With the dried fruit, I’d go balasamic.</p>
<p>I have better luck tossing the parmeggiano reggiano cheese on the salad at the end. It does not emulsify well in the dressing (just the opposite with blue cheese).</p>
<p>With balsamic vinegar you can use as much as 1:1 with the olive oil. With regular tart vinegars, the most I would do is 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil.</p>
<p>Garlic, thyme, all those things are perfectly fine to add into the dressing, although I’m not sure you need it with the fruit.</p>
<p>If you go with the basic oil & vinegar, dress the salad with oil first. The oil coats the salad leaves & prevents them from wilting under the acid of the vinegar. </p>
<p>I like to add a tablespoon of nonfat plain Greek yogurt to my vinaigrette. It makes the dressing creamy without adding a lot of fat.</p>
<p>I gave up dressing when I gave up oil. Didn’t think it would work but I add fruit to the lettuce and veggies and I add Balsamic glaze sometimes and I add nuts sometimes, and I add lots of fresh veggies semi cooked and some raw. And I have learned to relearn to savor flavors.</p>
<p>Start with 2 TBS olive oil to 1 TBS red wine vinegar, and a little dab of Grey Poupon. That might be too “tart” for you. If so, make it 3 TBS olive oil to 1 TBS red wine vinegar. There really are no rules. It’s hard to go wrong. Each combo will just be a little different. Experiment and find out what you like best.</p>
<p>You can make a vingaigrette a million different ways. For example, last night I made one with olive oil, white wine vinegar, a little garlic, salt, pepper, and a diced canned chipotle chile with a little of the adobo sauce. Tossed it in the salad with a bunch of freshly grated parmeggiano reggiano cheese for something along the lines of a spicy caesar dressing. </p>
<p>One trick: I make my dressing first in the bottom of a big bowl. Whisk it up. Then make the salad right on top of it in the bowl, tossing it all together. I find that I can get everything coated better and use less dressing than if I pour it on. Plus, it only dirties one bowl. Heck, when I make a one-person lunch salad, I often eat it right out of the same bow! I can either whisk cheese into the dressing (for a creamy dressing) or crumble it on at the end for a different texture.</p>
<p>overseas:</p>
<p>I would hate to see someone give up olive oil. It is major heathly for you, playing a big role in elevating “good cholesterol” HDL levels. Most people should probably increase their consumption of olive oils and fish oils.</p>
<p>O.k., doing blood work tomorrow. I will let you all know what the numbers say. I am now under the impression that olive oil is no better for your arteries than crisco. I am a cancer patient taking a heavy medicine to help me for nigh on 5 years. Let’s see what my numbers say. I have a baseline of using olive oil and fruits, veggies and fish. And now removing eggs, oil, dairy, fish. I am so curious, I can’t wait and really am not married to any of it.</p>
<p>They are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Crisco is a transfat and is probably one of the worst imaginable foods from a health standpoint. Olive oil is high in omega 3 fatty acids and will increase good cholesterol and perhaps act as an anti-inflammatory. </p>
<p>I loved the comment of Stanford PhD nutrition researcher Chris Gardner (a lifelong vegetarian) about vegans who come into his lab, he takes a look at the cholesterol numbers, and begs them eat some olive oil. I think replacing store-bought salad dressings (which are usually high in sugar) with simple olive oil vinaigrette dressings is one of the best things people can do for both health and weight loss. Plus they are so good that you get a “two-fer”, eating more raw veggies and green leafy veggies in big salads.</p>
<p>I started making a lot of Bobby Flay recipes, almost all of which involve a blender vinaigrette that is used both as a salad dressing and as a sauce for fish or chicken, often on a one-plate meal. I’m kinda slow, but after about a dozen different vinagrettes (lime-scallion vinaigrette, spicy orange vinaigrette, etc.), I finally realized that they were all the same: olive oil, plus something tart (vinegar, citrus, etc.) plus whatever you want to put in for color or flavor (cheese, or scallions for a green sauce, or red bell peppers for a red sauce). Maybe a little mustard if you want it thicker. Maybe a little honey if you want it sweeter. There are no rules. Just dig around in the fridge and come up with something. I’ve yet to make a bad one.</p>
Didn’t think it would work but I add fruit to the lettuce and veggies and I add Balsamic glaze sometimes and I add nuts sometimes, and I add lots of fresh veggies semi cooked and some raw. And I have learned to relearn to savor flavors.</p>