Do you make your own salad dressing?

[pacific breeze]

I almost always do because it is dead easy, and store-bought ones always taste of chemicals to me. Annie's Own is the only brand that tastes halfway decent and it's way too pricey.

I usually just make a simple vinaigrette and keep it in the fridge.

[SVZ]

I usually do. I find store brands too sweet, too watery, or just weird tasting. Not hard to do, and you know what goes in it

[DeChayz]

Same here, simple stuff - usually just some seasoned salt & olive oil. Occasionally some balsamic vinegar. Store bought just has so many calories and too much sodium. Plus they usually overpower the taste of the salad ingedients.

[SVZ]

i do like ranch dressing and carrot sticks once in a while though, yummy!!!

store bought is also really expensive...15 bucks for a bottle of oil and flavour???

[pacific breeze]

I don't like a lot of dressing anyway. I just finished a salad of dandelion greens and arugula with a good olive oil, red wine vinegar and garlic dressing. A little fresh Parmesan grated on top and it was yummy with some French bread.

[Aella]

Well, if pouring olive oil and vinegar over the salad counts, then yes, I am my own 'dressing'.

In all seriousness though, I can't stand the ready-made stuff either. I do one of two more complicated dressings (mixing some honey, lemon, mustard and sometimes a teaspoon of whiskey with olive oil), but I usually make really plain salads (just tomatos, olives and feta cheese) with every meal, so I stick to the basics.

[pacific breeze]

Living in Greece you get all those lovely fresh veggies to make salads with. I'm envious.

[Mr. Authority]

I don't like store-bought salads either. It's like it's too watery and soggy for me. I've also heard stories that e-coli was found in some bags of salads, as well as vermin like tadpoles and slugs. :vomits:

Making salad is simple anyway. Plus you can add as much vegtables as ya want. I like adding chopped carrots and chopped baby tomatoes in my salds. I also like using ranch and Thousand Island dressings for my salads. I was never good at making edible dressing out of olive oil.

[sputnik]

i hate all store-bought dressings and especially the heavy creamy ones like ranch, thousand island, etc.
i love vinaigrettes. they're dead easy to make too, you just need a whisk.
i usually do just olive oil, sea salt, pepper, mustard and either red wine or balsamic vinegar. and you can do all sorts of variations of that with different spices, honey, other types of mustard, other oils (walnut oil is yummy on endives), other vinegars, etc.
the only creamy dressing i like is home-made caesar, and i'm only occasionally in the mood for that.

[chuckpony]

can someone start a homemade salad dressing recipe thread? I would love to try some.

[dakodas]

I make my own with vinaigrettes with white or red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice. I use olive oil and sometimes add a bit of dijon mustard.

[kitten33]

I make the best homemade ceaser dressing. It is the best!

[Pandora]

Apple vinegar, oil and salt. My favorite. A touch of garlic or balsamic vinegar makes it even better.

[olliebee]

Originally Posted by kitten33

I make the best homemade ceaser dressing. It is the best!

Do you use anchovies and raw eggs in your ceasar dressing? I tried the most delicious ceasar from a restaurant called Houston's, and I could taste a lot of anchovies and garlic, yum!

I usually make my own vinaigrettes cuz we eat salads everyday...can get a little redundant if not for a variety of dressings. Normally I'll throw some olive oil, balsamic (the one from costco's so good!), garlic, salt, pepper, pinch of sugar and dried herbs into a jar, close the lid and shake the sh*t out of it. Also, if you want your vinaigrette to emulsify rather than seperate, you can add a little mustard before shaking/stirring.

[sprynkles]

I love creamy dressing esp. ranch. When I bothered to look at the ingredients I gave it up. My god, they're trying to kill us! Now I make my own!!!!!!!
I put a thing of low fat cottage cheese in the blender, and splash of milk or water to thin it. I add dill weed, chives garlic powder, salt...whatever! I love it. And 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese still has less calories and fat than 2 tbsp of ranch . I blend it until it's smooth & creamy. I tried several variations until I found one I like. I store it in a glass jar in the fridge and it tastes fresh and delicious for days!