Salad Dressing Ideas – the Basics you need to know

Having seen most TV Chefs prepare salads and dressings, I have come to a conclusion that you basically need to know the basics of a dressing and once you get the idea, you may start to substitute some of the elements or in this case, the taste and “chemical” requirements of a dressing to cater for your taste buds and occasion.

The simplest of salad dressing require only 4 items:

A type of acid – vinegar/vinegrette, tangy fruit juice like lime, lemon

A type of fat – EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Seasoning – usually pepper and salt

Once you watch too much “The Naked Chef” the 4 things will be repeated, over and over.  At least for salad dressings, that is.

To add spice to your dressing, do use herbs like fresh sage and basil, rosemary and thyme , depending on what type of salad you have.  And for Asian dressings, an extra element of sweetness is desired.

Now, you can substitute the 4 things thus way:

The Acids – use of tomato juice/ketchup and even orange juice

The Fats – how about sesame oil, truffle oil, even chilli-infused oil or cream.

The Seasoning – for salts, try fish sauce, soy sauce (balance it out if you have dried/salted bacon, cheese etc.) for pepper, choose fresh, chopped chillies, or paprika and again, check for spicy elements in your salad

Here are some ideas of dressings:

Simple Asian Salad dressing:

a) Shallots or onions, peanut, chillies – all of them fried.  It is best pounded together instead of being blended. Add salt, palm sugar and tamarind juice.

b) Chopped green onions and chillies, vinegar, a few drops of sesame oil, soy sauce and palm sugar.

c) Dried/salty anchovies, onions – sauteed quickly. Add coconut cream, salt and white pepper, stir on low heat. Don’t let it boil, or the cream will split.

Simple western dressing:

a) Lemon juice, EVOO, salt and pepper

b) Mayonnaise: egg yolk, EVOO, salt and pepper, lemon juice, sugar or honey – blend everything together, minus the EVOO. While blending, pour in trickling amount of EVOO until properly the dressing is properly creamed.