French Dressing

Ready for a whole new recipe book? I needed something to pair with the Lemon Meat Balls, and we were looking for interesting vegetable options, so I turned to 300 Delicious Salads. Big promise, right? Apparently the half-size booklet was originally marketed at $0.35, but a sticker on my copy of the book shows that it was sold for $0.19. Let’s see if it’s worth what it cost!

I picked a salad out of the book, but then realized that the salad called for one of the dressings in the back of the book as part of its construction, so we’ll start with the dressing.

French Dressing

1 C olive or salad oil

¼ C vinegar

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne

¼ tsp white pepper

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Combine all ingredients and beat or shake thoroughly before using. Simple, right? I made a double batch and added some extra chopped tarragon I had lying around.

Variations using 1 C French Dressing as a foundation:

-       Add 2 tbsp anchovy paste and 1 tbsp chopped pearl onions

-       Add 1/3 C minced capers

-       Add 1 tbsp each of chopped beets, chopped chives and chopped hard-boiled eggs

-       Add 1 tbsp chopped chive, minced shallot, onion or garlic

-       Add 3 tbsp cottage cheese and 1 tbsp chopped chives

-       Add 3 tbsp grated cucumber and 1 tbsp chopped chives

-       Add 1 tbsp each minced parsley, watercress, chervil and basil

-       Use 2 tbsp each vinegar and ginger ale

-       Add 1 tbsp prepared horseradish

-       Add 2 tbsp prepared chutney, 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs and ½ tsp curry powder

-       Add 2 tbsp chopped pearl onion

-       Add 1/3 C soft crumbled Roquefort or bleu cheese

-       Use ¼ C tarragon vinegar

-       Add 1 C tomato juice, ½ clove minced garlic and 1 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

-       Add 1 tbsp each of chopped chives, chopped sweet pickles and chopped capers

Have a question or a request? Put it in the comments below and I’ll be sure to respond. Fröhe essen!