Difficulty seasoning the salad? See basic sauce tips to make at home

It’s hard to resist the bounty of freshly picked veggies, but when they’re at home and in the fridge, the idea of ​​how you’re going to eat them can be questionable.

The easiest thing to do with raw vegetables is to toss them with dressing and call it a salad. Or a follow-up. Or both. If that sounds too boring, it’s time to spice things up with homemade sauce. It is possible to make your own sauce and expand your horizons.

Making homemade salad dressing is easy. When it comes to flavor combinations, you are only limited by your imagination and not restricted to industrialized foods.

Here are methods and tips for homemade salad dressing after years of experimentation.

Start with a vinaigrette

If this is your first time making homemade dressing, you can’t go wrong with a classic vinaigrette. This is the traditional mix of fat and acid – usually oil and vinegar or citrus juice – salt and pepper to taste.

The basic ratio is three parts oil to one part acidic liquid (such as 3 tablespoons olive oil to 1 tablespoon vinegar) to make enough dressing for one or two salads.

However, this formula is more of a rough guideline than an absolute rule; so if you like vinegar or citrus, you may prefer a 2-to-1 ratio or even equal parts.

Play with the oil and acid elements, and add other ingredients for complexity and flavor, such as:

• Chopped onions or garlic
• Chopped fresh herbs or a few pinches of dried herbs
• Mustard — Dijon is traditional, but you can pick your favorite
• Sweetened like honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar or agave nectar

Or choose one of these combinations and adjust to taste, substituting as desired:

• Olive oil + balsamic vinegar + roasted garlic
• Avocado Oil + Lime Juice + Chopped Coriander
• Olive oil + lemon juice + ground mustard + chopped onions
• Walnut Oil + Champagne Vinegar + Fresh Thyme or Dill
• Sesame oil + rice vinegar + orange juice + honey

creamy sauces

Once you’re comfortable mixing vinaigrettes of every variety imaginable, it’s just an extra step to take your homemade dressing to the next level with a creamy element.

Creaminess doesn’t have to come exclusively from dairy either. While Greek yogurt, buttermilk, mayonnaise, and sour cream are often used to give the sauce that rich flavor we all love, their plant-based alternatives work just as well when blended into the sauce. Foods like avocado, miso, tahini and nut butter can also have the same effect.

In the case of my favorite Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese works in conjunction with buttermilk or yogurt to create a creamy texture.

Try any of these recipes to get you going:

• Creamy Italian sauce with mayonnaise (regular or vegan)
• Avocado sauce
• lemon sauce
• ginger sauce
• Spicy Cashew Butter Sauce

As for the ranch dressing, I’ll admit it: although I have a recipe in my cookbook “Classic snacks made from scratch”, sometimes I can’t resist the craving for the bottled version. If you feel the same way about ranch dressing, there’s no shame in keeping an industrial one around.

However, if you want to make homemade ranch dressing, it’s not too difficult. Take a mixture of mayonnaise, sour cream and yogurt or buttermilk with garlic, dill, parsley and/or chives and spices. I always use salt and freshly ground black pepper, but the more adventurous can use hot sauce, chili flakes, or Cajun seasoning.

Homemade sauce tips and tricks

For a creamier, thicker texture for any homemade sauce, puree in a blender or food processor. This helps to evenly emulsify the oil with the acid and keeps the emulsion stable longer. I use this technique in most of my sauces; try it with a basil vinaigrette.

Use a freshly grated citrus peel in your sauce to add an extra kick of flavor. The rind is packed with essential oils, which will permeate the sauce. If you don’t want pieces of rind (no matter how grated it is) in the finished sauce, simply soak them in vinegar for 15-30 minutes and sift them before blending.

Let your sauces work like marinades. If you make it with bottled sauces, you can make it with homemade ones. Do not forget, however, that once raw meat has come into contact with the marinade, you cannot use it for anything else. So be sure to save some fresh sauce to serve with your meal if you wish.

Lastly, you can always reverse a homemade sauce with leftover sauces and creams. Thicken a thicker sauce with vinegar, lemon juice, or even a little broth, tasting and adjusting as you go.

*Casey Barber is a food writer, artist, and website editor Good Food Stories.