Dressing your salads your way!

I realized I use several recipes for homemade salad dressings, but I haven't posted them all one easy place to find them...so I'm going to do that now:

For all the dressings, I think they do best if you blend them the first time in a blender or food processor (I love my little Ninja). This makes sure the oil, vinegar and juices are well mixed and it also chops the herbs and garlic up nice and finely. But if a blender is not available, combining all ingredients in a container with a lid and shaking it up or using a whisk in a small bowl works as well. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Sweet Mustard Dressing

2 Tbsp mustard

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp agave nectar or honey

2 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp dried basil or parsley

Greek Dressing

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tsp oregano

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp herbal seasoning (like Mrs. Dash)

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Cilantro-Lime Dressing

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup lime juice

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

Dash cayenne pepper or a couple drops of Tabasco sauce

Sesame-Ginger Dressing

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or tamari sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

2 tablespoons peeled and minced ginger

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Curry-Orange Dressing

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp honey or agave nectar
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 tsp yellow curry powder
1 tsp salt
*If you're doing this one in a blender, you can throw in some dried cranberries as well. Yum.

Mustard Mishap

Remember a couple weeks ago when we went to Cincinnati. One of our stops was at our favorite destination grocery store - Jungle Jim's. One of the items I wanted to get at JJs was some good mustard.

I've recently started making my own salad dressings and a good mustard can really make it - and I ran out of dijon. JJs has great ethnic food sections so I found a good French mustard made with champagne and a fairly straight-forward yellow German mustard. There was also stone ground French mustard that looked good. So we got all three of those. But I had forgotten that I had also thrown a bottle of French's dijon that was on sale just in case I didn't find any others. So we bought four mustards at Jungle Jim's.

Then on the following Tuesday we got our Green BEAN Delivery - I had forgotten that I had added a jar of local mustard to that order as well! So in a three-day period I got five new bottles of mustard. Thankfully, mustard doesn't go bad quickly. We'll be having it with everything.

I've used the Local Foods mustard mixed into ground beef for hamburgers and in barbeque beans. Last night I made pork chops in a white wine-mustard marinade and homemade sweet mustard dressing.

White Wine-Mustard Marinade
 2 Tbsp mustard - whatever kind you want - I used the yellow in the barrel shaped jar in the photo above.
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp pepper
dash of salt

Stir together and pour over pork or chicken. Allow meat to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Makes enough for 4 pork chops or chicken breasts.

Sweet Mustard Dressing
2 Tbsp mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp agave nectar or honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chopped dill

Stir all ingredients together. Best if allowed to sit at least a couple hours before serving. Toss with mixed greens. Store in refrigerator. 8-12 servings.