Avocado Dressing

I'm super picky about avocados and like them in salads when most people would wait another day or two.  Once they reach that level of ripeness, I reluctantly put them in the 'fridge where they mostly go to die.  I'm just not a fan of mushy avocados, and you can only eat so much guacamole! 😐

I thought possibly mashing these two that were in my 'fridge for 5+ days, with the ingredients shown, might make an interesting, creamy salad dressing.  The seasonings may seem excessive, but the blandless of the sour cream and avocado make that level necessary.  Taste it after an hour or so to be sure the flavors all have time to hydrate and you might be surprised to find you need even more!

2 soft avocados

1 lemon - zest

½ lemon - juice

3T this vinegar

1t Shallot Pepper

1t garlic & herbs

¼t black pepper

⅔c sour cream

3T water

Mash all this together with a potato masher.  When it's smooth, spoon it into a lightweight gallon-size plastic bag.  Cut off the bottom tip.  Twist the bag and smoosh it into a plastic squeeze container and refrigerate.  This will keep for a week or two. . .Lin

Creamy Chili Garlic Dressing (and a salad)

2T chili garlic sauce

2T white balsamic vinegar

6-8oz. mayonaise

If you like things hot and spicy, just combine these 3 ingredients in a shaker container, shake, and you're done!  If you're not fond of the idea of all those chili pepper seeds surprising you with a blast of heat, strain the sauce, rubbing it with the back of a spoon, into a little bowl,  Stir the strainer contents a bit, then press, repeating until you've extracted all the sauce and are down to seeds.  Drizzle a teeny bit of vinegar over the seeds, stopping to stir and press again.  Continue with this until you run out of vinegar.  Pour this into your shaker jar.  Add mayonnaise and shake well. . .Lin

¼ sm. head of purple cabbage

1 baby romaine heart

3-4oz. baby kale

6 green onions

1 big carrot

lentil sprouts

Those of you who follow my blog probably know that my ultimate definition of A Salad is this one *  Today my lentil sprouts were ready to eat, and the lettuce mix I made a few days ago was gone.  I have no tomato, avocado or cucumber, so I was forced to totally deviate from my usual 5 Ingredient Salad.  This ended up being sort of a "clean-out-the-'fridge" salad!  It's good to do that once in awhile, to expand our brains which seem to like to be fixed on one or just a couple ways, of doing things.  Use your salad spinner for the romaine, baby kale and cabbage.  Scrub the carrot then slice lengthwise into long julienne strips and cut them about 1" long.  Add the rest and toss.



This all turned out wonderful.  A nice lunch.  There was enough leftover, for another 3 bowls of salad this size. . . Ahhh, more for later!  Be Bold, Be Adventurous, Think Outside Your Normal Routine, Happy Cooking! . . . Lin

Oranges and Fennel and Beets - Oh My! (salad)

1 romaine heart*

2 medium golden beets - scrubbed

1 sm.-med. turnip - peeled

~1 lemon or lime - zest and juice

~2T sugar or honey

~3T rosemary olive oil

~1t garlic salt

~½t+ finely ground pepper

~½c craisins

~¼c chopped pecans

~¼c slivered almonds

2 CaraCara oranges

1 lg. fennel bulb

2-4 green onions

several sprigs of fresh parsley

Quarter romaine lengthwise, then wash, spin and dry it in your salad spinner.* <—my favorite!  Transfer it to  a large salad bowl  Using either great knife skills, 😉either julienne slice the beets and turnips - or - crank them through a spiralizer.* <—This will take you to a Paderno Spiralizer demo video.)  Put immediately in with the lettuce.  Combine the next 8 ingredients in a small bowl and microwave 30 seconds.  Whisk, then pour over the ingredients in the salad bowl.  Toss well to distribute everything evenly and coat the whole salad with dressing.

Peel the oranges, then cut into quarters, then segments.  Cut the top and bottom off the fennel, then thin-slice or spiralize across the grain.  Slice onions and break up parsley.  Add all this to the bowl, toss gently, but enough to coat and mix all the components.  This makes a lot!  4 big servings.  *If there will be leftovers romaine is best.  If you're going to finish this soon after composing, and would rather, you could use baby spinach.  Feta cheese could also be crumbled over each serving. . .Lin

Sun-Dried Tomato—Avocado Dressing

1 very ripe avocado

3/4c real mayonnaise 

2-3T Balsamic vinegar

2-3T finely chopped sun dried tomatoes

1-2T oil from the tomatoes

fresh ground sea salt and pepper

2-3T water - as needed

Mash the avocado in a flat bowl, stir in the remaining ingredients and pour over a tossed salad.  Makes enough for 2 big salads. . .Lin

Baked Eggs and a Great Chef's Salad!

6 eggs

Put eggs in a muffin tin.  Bake in a 325° preheated oven for 30 minutes.  The brown spots and coloring on the inside of the one egg that cracked, were puzzling, but these turned out very well as an alternative to traditional hard-boiling.

2T plain Greek yogurt

1T mayonnaise

1-2t whole grain, seedy brown mustard

2T coriander (cilantro) chutney

Mix these ingredients in a big bowl as dressing for 1 very large salad.

Add:

2/3c homemade Korean Kimchi - sliced-chopped

1/2 chopped, rough-peeled cucumber

1 chopped Roma tomato

1/2 chopped avocado

1/2 sm. chopped sweet onion

1 lg. handful of fresh spinach

a handful of sunflower seeds

1 chopped baked egg

This was an excellent Chef's Salad.  I'll for sure make this again.  I've been wanting to eliminate bottled dressings and this one I threw together had tons of flavor.  Sort of a Spicy Cilantro Ranch dressing.  It's so nice knowing I can create the flavors I want using fresh ingredients without all the preservatives used by the big companies in their factory-made dressings.  Also, a little extra-virgin olive oil and good Balsamic vinegars are always a great choice for a nice clean, flavorful dressing.  Oils are available in many flavors, as are the Balsamic vinegars. . .be bold and try new ideas! . . . Lin

Ken and Lin's Russian Dressing

1c vegetable oil

1c ketchup

½c sugar

½c water

1/3c vinegar

2T horseradish mustard

1T horseradish

1t salt

1t hot Hungarian paprika

Combine all in blender jar. Blend, pulsing, several times until all is combined well. Makes about 3 cups. . .Lin

Ken's Russian Dressing

1c  cocktail sauce

¼c mayo

¼c French dressing

2T  balsamic

We had dinner at a local steak house last night and loved their Russian dressing. Today we pretty much nailed it in our duplication attempt.

Stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Leftover dressing will keep well covered in the fridge. . .Lin

Maple Mustard Dressing

2T pure Maple syrup

~ or honey

½c very seedy mustard

1c mayonnaise

Combine together in a pint jar. Shake well and serve over your favorite salad.

This would also make a good dressing for potato salad as well as a dipping sauce for fish or chicken. I posted a similar dressing a while ago, but this one turned out so well with this mustard, I had to do a repeat. This is definitely my current favorite dressing. . .Lin

Honey Mustard Dressing

½c mayonnaise

¼c brown mustard

1T maple syrup or honey

Combine and use as a dipping sauce for fish or chicken as well as a salad dressing or fruit and vegetable dip. . .Lin

Balsamic - Olive Oil Dressing

Start with a pretty little clear glass dressing container.  Fill it half way with very good quality Italian extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Fill the rest of the way with your favorite Balsamic Vinegar.  I've tried at least a dozen in the past year and this one is my favorite.  If you haven't been Balsamic Vinegar Shopping, you should!  Make it an adventure.  Buy a couple and see what you like or don't, about each.  I have a few (Pomegranate, Blood Orange and Raspberry Balsamic) that are so fruity the main thing I use them for is fruit salads.  Some are so dark, complex and heavy that they're best with a little butter and oil to brown and deglaze red meat.  Balsamic vinegars are quite different from one another.  I have a Red Apple and even a Coconut White Balsamic!  There's a White Pear Balsamic Vinegar that's really a good one.  I'm sure you'll find several you love.  Happy hunting. . .Lin

Peppercorn-Dill Ranch Dressing

3/4c± Kraft Cracked Pepper Mayo

3/4c± light sour cream

2T water

1/4t seasoned salt (with no MSG)

1t  bright green (fresh) dried dill

Mix all together.  Serve over salads and as a dip with raw vegetables.  This comes very close to Kraft Peppercorn Ranch salad dressing - my all time favorite bottled dressing.  .  .Lin

Pepper-Dill Ranch Salad Dressing

1/2c  Kraft Cracked Pepper Mayo

1/2c  light sour cream

1t   dark, bright green, dry dill weed

2t  Balsamic or white vinegar

2T Half & Half

2T water

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Blend then continue to add liquid to thin until the consistency is right.  Check flavor and add a pinch of sea salt if needed. . .Lin

Lemon Thyme Ranch Dressing - and A Big Fresh Summer Salad (with bleu cheese crumbles, garbanzos and hearts of palm)

Dressing:

2/3c half & half

2T Balsamic vinegar

2/3c Kraft Cracked Pepper Mayo

1T finely chopped Lemon-Thyme leaves

In a 3-4c measuring container, whisk half & half with the vinegar, creating buttermilk. Stir in the remaining ingredients, blending well. Add a little water if needed to make it pourable.

Store in a Good Seasons Salad Dressing carafe.

Salad:

Combine 2-3 big kale leaves, all the vegetables shown here - sliced-chopped - in a big bowl.

Voila' - a great, busy-day lunch break. . .

But then, while putting the dressing away, I saw the hearts of palm, bleu cheese and thought, oh, garbanzos would be nice!

It quickly evolved to this—>

Happy Monday everyone! . . . Lin

Spout and Quiche' Breakfast Salad

This breakfast idea combines the recent Quiche' recipe (Hodag-Country-Fest Breakfast), the Dill-Garlic Dressing, and the post on Sprouting. Often we eat leftovers the same way they were originally served.

Sometimes with a new ingredient or two, it can be revamped into something entirely different.

Here I heated the quiche, added a little avocado, tomato, dressing and a clump of lentil sprouts. Now, include coffee, NPR, my dogs wrestling on the floor - and - I have a nice way to start the day. . .Lin

Spicy Garlic-Dill Dresiing

½c real mayonnaise

½c sour cream

1t hot sauce

1t Balsamic vinegar

1½t dark green dried dill

2 cloves fresh garlic-minced

(salt & pepper were not needed)

Stir all ingredients together in a little bowl.


This recipe makes a thicker, spoonable dressing. If you want it pourable, add water - a little at a time, to reach the consistency you like. . .Lin

Southwestern Chopped Salad

It's a Textural Thing. . . . .for example — with pasta, often, the right size-shape-texture pulls the whole dish together. It wouldn't seem quite right to pair shrimp scampi ingredients or pesto with radiatore pasta. Nor would it be logical to make a chunky chicken primavara with angel hair pasta.

This principle also applies nicely to salads. Sometimes you want all the components sliced thin and precise, a layered-arranged salad, or, you might want a chopped salad. That's me today :o)

Texture starts right away with these lettuce mix ingredients. For my chunky chopped lettuce mix, I combined romaine, green butter (Boston) lettuce, red frisee, Vidalia onion, mini English cucumbers, celery hearts and tops, boxwood basil and red cabbage. Grab a handful of this then add any other chunky-chopped ingredients you want for your chopped salad. You know what would have perfected this Southwestern Chopped Salad? — the addition of avocado, corn and black beans! Next time for sure! Since I was thinking Southwestern, I made an individual portion of a new dressing I can't wait to expand. I'll make enough to fill a quart mason jar. It will keep nicely for a week or two in the 'fridge.

Southwestern Salad Dressing

1 part sour cream

1 part mayonnaise

2 parts your favorite medium salsa

a dash, two or three, of your favorite hot sauce — Stir all these together and spoon-pour over your salad. . .Lin

Dill Herb Sour Cream Dressing

1 c light sour cream

½c real mayonnaise

1 t dill weed

½t Rosemary Seasoning

~   posted here earlier

1-2 grinds of fresh black pepper

1 T balsamic vinegar

2 T water

½t± Maple syrup if needed to cut the acidity of the vinegar

¼c± fresh herbs finely minced - shown with chives & Italian flat leaf parsley

Mix all together and let stand a while to hydrate and blend all the flavors. Use as a vegetable dip, salad dressing or on top of baked potatoes. . .Lin

Dressing for Reuben Sandwiches

pickles – dill, sweet or a mix of both

¾c mayonnaise

¼c catsup

2T  spicy-seedy mustard

Chop pickles very fine and combine with the other ingredients. We had a piece of unsliced corned beef leftover from our St. Patrick's Day dinner yesterday. This was my first attempt at Reuben sandwiches so this may not be traditional, but they turned out well and tasted great.

Spread the insides of the bread slices with dressing. Top with corned beef, Swiss cheese and drained sauerkraut. Grill or eat cold. With a little water added to loosen it up, this dressing would also be good on salads. . .Lin

Lemon-Dill Tartar Sauce, etc. . .

4T  finely chopped onion

4T  finely chopped sweet pickle

2T  dried dill weed

1/2t   Seasoning Salt

1/4c  sour cream

1/2c  real mayonnaise

zest  of 1 lemon - finely grated

juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine all and let chill an hour.  Serve over fish, on sandwiches or even as a salad dressing!  Shown with fried cornflour-crusted cod loins, baked regular and sweet potatoes, black beans and salad . .Lin 

Cucumber-Onion-Tomato Salad

2/3 c sour cream

1T Heinz Salad Vinegar

1t-1T dark maple syrup

1/4-1/2t fresh ground pepper

4 mini English cucumbers - rough peeled

3 Roma tomatoes

1 sm Vidalia onion

1 yellow mini pepper

~ fresh snipped basil ~ optional

Whisk the first 4 ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Add the sliced or chopped vegetables.  Toss, chill-marinate an hour or more. . .Lin