A Perfect Way to Dress Your Salad
You have these wonderful greens in your fridge, have little time and just want to serve a fast meal that tastes really good and at the same time makes a healthy meal.
From experience you know that the meal does not always come out the way you want it and wonder why - your greens are too good to be spoiled and you dream about a formula to help you out right now.
This is where I, as a former Restaurant owner, chef and now among other things a cook book writer, can help you.
I am going to give you some basic rules relating to making a dressing that not only fits the salad but also enhances the different tastes.
First be clear on which kind of salad you are making:
If you add heavy ingredients like meat, cooked eggs, cut potatoes and other vegetables or fruits your salad leaves need to be strong. The greens need to be fresh and the color as dark green as possible.
Your dressing is the initiator of marrying the different flavors of whatever you have put into your salad. The more vegetables and fruits you ad to your salad the more flavorful your dressing needs to be.
Most people often have hearts of Romaine in their fridge as it keeps very well. This is what is used for a Caesar Salad so here is a recipe for the most necessary part of this dish:
Caesar Dressing: (4 servings)
Peel and mince or chop finely the garlic. Cook the two eggs in boiling water without breaking them for one minute and when cooled enough to touch break them into a smaller bowl or the salad bowl and stir them well until light in color.
Add the mustard and the extra virgin olive oil little by little.
Then add the garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce and the wine vinegar. I personally prefer a good red wine vinegar.
Mix everything well and you can add fresh ground pepper to taste.
I never add salt at this point as the Parmesan cheese in itself is salty and if you prefer to top your salad with Anchovy this is salty too.
The Parmesan cheese tastes and looks great if you can shave it, however it is also OK to use grated Parmesan Cheese.
Add your salad to the bowl and when you are ready to eat toss everything in the bowl with the dressing and top the salad with the Parmesan Cheese.
Make sure there is enough salad for the dressing in your bowl. Otherwise keep some of the dressing for another salad.
The consistency of the dressing has to be thin enough to blend easily with the salad chosen but not so thin that it immediately goes to the bottom of the salad bowl.
So remember this:
Best wishes,
Pia Balling
PS: Remember when making your dressing: Mixing different ingredients well is a question of balance, balance in taste and texture.
You have these wonderful greens in your fridge, have little time and just want to serve a fast meal that tastes really good and at the same time makes a healthy meal.
From experience you know that the meal does not always come out the way you want it and wonder why - your greens are too good to be spoiled and you dream about a formula to help you out right now.
This is where I, as a former Restaurant owner, chef and now among other things a cook book writer, can help you.
I am going to give you some basic rules relating to making a dressing that not only fits the salad but also enhances the different tastes.
First be clear on which kind of salad you are making:
If you add heavy ingredients like meat, cooked eggs, cut potatoes and other vegetables or fruits your salad leaves need to be strong. The greens need to be fresh and the color as dark green as possible.
Your dressing is the initiator of marrying the different flavors of whatever you have put into your salad. The more vegetables and fruits you ad to your salad the more flavorful your dressing needs to be.
Most people often have hearts of Romaine in their fridge as it keeps very well. This is what is used for a Caesar Salad so here is a recipe for the most necessary part of this dish:
Caesar Dressing: (4 servings)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon wine vinegar, can be red or white
- 1 splash of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of freshly pressed lemon juice
- 1 slice of fresh Parmesan Cheese
Peel and mince or chop finely the garlic. Cook the two eggs in boiling water without breaking them for one minute and when cooled enough to touch break them into a smaller bowl or the salad bowl and stir them well until light in color.
Add the mustard and the extra virgin olive oil little by little.
Then add the garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce and the wine vinegar. I personally prefer a good red wine vinegar.
Mix everything well and you can add fresh ground pepper to taste.
I never add salt at this point as the Parmesan cheese in itself is salty and if you prefer to top your salad with Anchovy this is salty too.
The Parmesan cheese tastes and looks great if you can shave it, however it is also OK to use grated Parmesan Cheese.
Add your salad to the bowl and when you are ready to eat toss everything in the bowl with the dressing and top the salad with the Parmesan Cheese.
Make sure there is enough salad for the dressing in your bowl. Otherwise keep some of the dressing for another salad.
The consistency of the dressing has to be thin enough to blend easily with the salad chosen but not so thin that it immediately goes to the bottom of the salad bowl.
So remember this:
- Make sure your chosen dressing marries the flavors of whatever you have put into your salad bowl
- Choose a thinner dressing for lighter greens
- Always use fresh ingredients
- The more ingredients you have added to your salad, the more flavorful your dressing needs to be
- Do not add salt when you have salty ingredients in the dressing and/or the salad. You can spoil a great dish in no time with just a little too much salt.
Best wishes,
Pia Balling
PS: Remember when making your dressing: Mixing different ingredients well is a question of balance, balance in taste and texture.
PIA BALLING is driven to make life a wonderful and exciting experience for as many people as possible by supporting health, body and mind through recipes, specialty foods, nutrition tips, personal growth programs and more. For more, please visit her websites at http://www.piaseuropean.com or http://www.youramazingpower.com.
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