Learn: Make your own vinaigrettes
Making custom vinaigrettes for salads and proteins is such an easy way to add acidity and fat to your meals. I learned a lot about vinaigrettes from Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat cookbook. It’s also super easy to customize them for whatever you plan to make. I hope this gives you inspiration to make more than your basic olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette when the time comes. The standard ratio for a vinaigrette is 1:3. 1 part vinegar (acidity) and 3 parts oil (fat). I generally follow this but my golden rule is sticking my finger in and tasting.
Red wine, balsamic or any other kind of vinegar based vinaigrettes.
Macerate finely chopped onions or a shallot in your vinegar for about 15-20 minutes. Maceration helps take the bite out of the onions/shallots. You can also skip this part if you don’t like onions or shallots but they really do add so much flavor. You can also substitute for garlic because who doesn’t love garlic?!
Whisk in olive oil, kosher salt and pepper.
Your basic vinaigrette is ready to go.
More suggestions:
Whisk in chopped up herbs, I love making mint vinaigrettes. They make the most refreshing salad dressings.
Whisk in mayonnaise for a creamy vinaigrette or mustard (use high quality dijon mustards for the best tasting dressings, no one wants hot dog yellow mustard vinaigrette)
Whisk in crumbly cheese. This is my numero uno way of getting rid of those last spoonfuls of Parmesan cheese. Feta is good too!
Use citrus! Add in fresh lemon, lime or any other kind of citrus fruit juice to the vinaigrette. For this type, I would probably steer clear of Balsamic vinegar since it’s fairly strong. You can use some of the zest too.
Spice things up and put in some diced jalapenos or peppers of your choice. Another great way to get rid of crushed red pepper packets from pizza delivery is to add them to your vinaigrettes.
Don’t use plain old vinegar, it’s too strong. Stick with white wine, red wine or rice wine vinegars. You and also use apple cider vinegar for more mild flavors.
Add in spices from your spice rack - it’s a good way to utilize these to enhance your meals.
Add in some sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and use a more neutral flavored oil as your base for an Asian style vinaigrette. I also like to add in furikake and a tiny splash of soy sauce. This is really yummy on salads if you’re tired of a regular vinaigrette. Especially salads that have green onions, shiitake mushrooms and tomatoes.
