Quick Fix: Easy Vinaigrette – TKC 19

You may have heard about a couple of little theories about relativity from a guy named Einstein.  One is called special relativity (that is the speed of light is constant in a vacuum and that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers). The other is general relativity (which states that massive objects cause distortions in space-time which is felt as gravity). You may not however have heard of Einsten’s third theory of relativity; the theory of salad dressing relativity. It states that times passes more quickly for store-bought salad dressing when it’s put in your refrigerator. What does that mean exactly? Well, here’s an example. You found this interesting blue cheese vinaigrette salad dressing at the store so you decided to buy a bottle. This was about a month ago. Imagine your surprise when you made a salad the other day and went to the fridge to get that blue cheese vinaigrette, only to notice that it had expired a year and a half ago. So while you thought you bought it a month ago, obviously it had been in the fridge much longer than you thought. This has happened to me more often than I care to admit. Ok so maybe Einstein didn’t have a theory of salad dressing relativity, and maybe I should clean my fridge out more often. But I’ve got a solution that can take care of this problem once and for all!

Make your own salad dressing! You can make much smaller quantities and actually use it up before it goes bad. You can also make any type of flavor combinations you want, and you can make it on demand!

How? Well it’s really simple. Your typical formula for a vinaigrette is three parts oil to one part acid (vinegar). Toss those two ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake like mad. What you end up with is an emulsion of the oil and vinegar; a vinaigrette! No mess, no special equipment needed. By the way if you like your vinaigrette more or less “vinegar-y” you can adjust the ratio up or down to suit your taste. For example, if you don’t like it with so much vinegar, try 4 parts oil to one part vinegar.

Ok so what type of oil, and what type of acid? Well, the short answer is whatever type you want, but try starting with olive oils and neural tasting oils like safflower, canola, or grapeseed! As for vinegar, whatever the vinegar tastes like, so will your vinaigrette taste. If you wanted a simple balsamic vinaigrette, you can do one cup extra virgin olive oil and 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar. Toss in jar and shake. If you wanted a strawberry vinaigrette, try one cup olive oil, 1/3 cup wine vinegar, 1/3 cup coarsely pureed strawberries, and a tablespoon of sugar. Toss in jar and shake. Want honey mustard vinaigrette? Try one cup olive oil, 1/3 cup white wine vinegar, and add a tablespoon each of dijon mustard and honey. Toss in jar and shake. I used the one cup/third cup ration for these examples, but you could make smaller portions by just adjusting the overal quantites down, while keeping the ratio to suit your needs (e.g. three tablespoons oil to one tablespoon vinegar). The other ingredients can be adjusted as well.

So let’s recap: Three parts oil, one part acid (vinegar), combine in jar and shake. Feel free to experiment with the types of oil and acids you use (Don’t like vinegar all that much? try citrus!), as well as other ingredients like fruit, fresh herbs, garlic, cheese, to make your own vinaigrette masterpieces. One thing’s for certain; You’ll never have to worry about those old bottles of salad dressing defying the laws of physics in your fridge again!

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