Monday, May 12, 2008

Retro salad dressings

I'm a self-confessed lettuce snob. I can't stand iceberg lettuce and, no matter how much my husband points out the cost difference, I cannot pass up other types of salad greens for the iceberg I consider flavorless and anemic.

Ergo, to save some money (and spice up the summer salad season) I've delved into my retro Betty Crocker Cookbook from 1950. Most of these recipes called for ingredients I already had on hand. They're really fresh and add just a little zip to mixed salad greens. As my daughter put it, when the dressing's this good, you don't need anything else but the lettuce. (Anyway, that's what she said.)

French Dressing
In a quart jar (with a tight fitting lid) add and shake:
1 TBS sugar
1 teaspoon each salt, paprika, dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup salad vinegar (it's labeled that way) or lemon juice
SHAKE BEFORE ADDING THE OIL
3/4 cup salad oil (vegetable oil)
The juice from one crushed clove of garlic (or, if you buy garlic by the jar, a little bit of that liquid will work just as well.)
Shake well, then chill. It makes about 1 cup of dressing and will keep a week in the fridge -- just make sure you give it a good shake before you use it each time.

Lorenzo Dressing
French, with a kick. Just add 1 tablespoon of chili sauce (in the ketchup aisle) to 1/2 cup French Dressing. Shake well.

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