2025, Family, Food, Health, Uncategorized

Fussy Vinaigrette

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Well, if there is one thing I have learned from my 40+ years of marriage is that Husband makes the salad dressings. He is so finicky about salads, and he always insists that we have to make our dressings from scratch.

He recently found on the NYT food site a basic vinaigrette that appeals to a fusspot like him. You add what ever herbs and/or mustard you want to 1/4 cup of olive oil and two tablespoons of wine vinegar., along with a little salt and pepper. He is insistent that it must be white pepper. Don’t ask me why. Oh, and the herbs must somehow complement the greens in some obscure way I am not privy to and seem to change unexpectedly. I must admit his dressings and salads are really good.

I, however, make the hollandaise. I wouldn’t trust him to not poison us with salmonella if not done correctly. I make a quick blender hollandaise that hasn’t poisoned us yet. Thank you, Julia!

What are your favorite salads and dressings? What do you get fussy about? Ever made hollandaise?

48 thoughts on “Fussy Vinaigrette”

        1. Not that I’m aware of, Barb. I took Wes’ comment to be poking fun at ending a sentence on a preposition.

          That brought to mind the story of a student’s response to a teacher who had corrected him in front of a class for doing so. I’m pretty sure that Wes got that, though I’ll admit that I hesitated for a second lest someone thought I was calling him an asshole. It was an attempt at humor.

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      2. I knew!
        Just this morning, I discovered that I’m fussy about puzzles. It’s unacceptable to keep the pieces together that happened to escape the breaking apart process.

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  2. Honestly, I never thought about making my own salad dressing. That’s a thing?
    I did make my own mayonnaise once. It was really good. However I had a hard time getting past the fact it was a whole cup of oil. I guess I would rather eat the food without knowing what’s in it. 🙂

    On the one hand I think I’ve gotten less fussy as I’ve gotten older, so many things are not worth a fight anymore. And on the other hand it’s the timing of a light cue or it’s the proper way to run cables in the grid. It’s shutting the doors on the chicken coop the right way, it’s trying to keep the dirt out of the new shop, I’m sure there’s many others that just make me the unique individual I am. 🙂

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  4. Rise and Mix it Up, Baboons,

    Yep, Ben, it is a thing! Dressings are full of additives.

    Homemade Ranch Dressing (without MSG)

    1/2 c full fat mayonnaise
    1/2 c buttermilk
    1/4 c full fat sour cream
    1/2 tsp parsley
    1/2 tsp dried dill weed
    1/2 tsp dried chives
    1/2 tsp onion powder
    1/2 tsp garlic powder
    1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
    1/4 tsp salt
    1/8 tsp pepper

    Mix it up. It gets thicker in the fridge

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  5. I agree that salad dressings made from scratch are much better that the bottled variety. I’ll confess, though, that we usually have some store-bought variety on hand for those occasions when husband is in charge of making the salad.

    I make a variety of dressings to complement the ingredients of the salad. To my mind, one size doesn’t fit all, although a vinaigrette with fresh herbs is most often what I resort to.

    Husband and I also have different ideas of what constitutes a good salad. For instance, I rarely put raw carrot in a salad, he frequently does. I also consider the main course when I choose my salad ingredients; he tends to think that a salad is a salad is a salad. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

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    1. It’s very well done. Not just hand-wringing but a plan of action. Watch for full implementation of “prosperity gospel” teaching. Project 2025 and the Seven Mountain Mandate.

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    3. I agree with the writer but don’t have any faith in the power of reasonable people to fight back against this. Too many people just don’t care, don’t understand, or just don’t want to do anything, becauce it’s too hard.

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  7. It is always a trick with hollandaise to have the melted butter hot enough for health sake but not too hot so it scrambles the eggs when you pour it in the blender.

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      1. No double boiler at all. Just put the yolks and herbs/mustard/seasonings in the blender, and run the blender while adding scalding hot butter from the microwave.

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  8. I make my own dressing, always vinaigrette. The raw materials really count. Cheap white vinegar is always a disappointment.
    I once read that there was a group of feminist women, fans of Nora Ephron, who insisted that her recipe was the best and only one to use. I think that had more to do with Nora than with the dressing itself. Her mixture, though, is what I generally follow.

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  9. OT. Congratulations to the Westminister Best In Show, Giant Schnauzer. I wanted the Skye Terrier. I noticed that, when introduced, the Terrier didn’t recieve the typical parade around the floor from the handler.

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    2. For one brief shiny moment I had the ability to “like” a comment earlier today. Now it’s gone. Here’s to liking your comment, and welcome to the trail.

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  12. When I make salads for myself (which is nearly 100% of the time) I use fresh spinach and whatever veggies I have available. Usually there are sliced carrots, cucumbers, maybe some bell peppers, sometimes some broccoli or cauliflower, or both, usually some Kalamata or Greek olives, often some feta cheese. I often add some sliced almonds, or sunflower seeds, or pepitos, whatever is available. Sometimes I add a sliced boiled egg. I stuff as many veggies as I can on a bed of spinach. I make a vinaigrette similar to what your husband makes. When I’m lazy I use Hidden Valley Ranch Light.

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  13. We are a 50/50 household… some homemade, some store-bought. The salad that I get the most comments on is my Pear Salad (I usually serve this at the Gift Exchange) and it calls for a dressing of oil, red wine vinegar, honey, oj, a smidge of salt and pecans. I know, you would think the pecans are part of the salad part, but the recipe that I use lists them as part of the dressing.

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  15. OT: Just got this from a friend… any little thing helps, and “the more reports to google, the merrier.”

    A quick resistance task:
    1. Google Gulf of Mexico.
    2. “Gulf of America” will be at the head of Google’s answer.
    3. Click on the three little dots to the right of “Gulf of America”.
    4. Select “Send Feedback”
    5. Click on “Gulf Of America” text.
    6. Select “Inaccurate content”.
    7. Select “Incorrect” and type in whatever text you want such as “The correct name of this body of water is “Gulf of Mexico”.

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  16. I don’t do very much in the way of salad dressings, but I do like to mix an infused olive oil (a local shop does a very nice key lime) with a bit of balsamic and Penzey’s Fox Point seasoning. It makes a nice dip for Italian or French bread,and alsoserves as a good dressing for greens.

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  17. milk mayo garlic and dill ranch
    oil of choice avacado evoo seasame and vinagar red wine balsamic apple cider along with garlic herbs of the moment and maybe olive juice white wine salt and pepper

    hollandaise double boiler and labor
    ill try hot butter

    i love blue cheese and french ( never made french)

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    1. maybe go with the whole mustard seed as opposed to putting the mustard in unless you’re doing a premade dressing I don’t think it would work very well in the vinaigrette, but the seed would give you the same flavor

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