Basics: Dress it up!

This is the first of my "Basics" posts.  I have planned several posts which I will describe basic cooking techniques, for example making a vinaigrette, or feature basic kitchen skills, such as how to properly use a chef's knife, explain certain ingredients and how to use them in recipes, and other simple tips and tricks that most people might not really know. My plan is to help you to be more comfortable in the kitchen so that cooking at home is fun, easy and more likely to happen. ;) So here we go!  

Basics: Dress it up! 

We all know that getting more fresh, local, organic fruits and vegetables would do us a lot of good, right? This past weekend, I went to the Vista Farmer's Market just a few miles away from our home. The selection of local produce was astounding! And we're in the prime, it's summer time and everything is alive and growing. My goal this visit was to pick up some salad ingredients, fresh tomatoes, green garlic (love!) and whatever looked fresh, ripe, and smelled amazing. We're making a salad! 

There is nothing better than homemade salad dressings. Once you start to make your own you'll never go to store bought dressings, I guarantee it!. If you look at the label on the back of a common dressing you will find A LOT of strange words and a long list of ingredients! Some of these are preservatives, MSG in disguise, oils we really shouldn't be consuming such as soybean oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, and other toxic oils. This is not a real food, do not eat it!  It is so easy to make your own salad dressing at home and I promise it will taste 100 times better then those plastic bottles of toxic crap.  

What will you need:

• An empty, clean glass jar.  Instead of throwing out mustard or jelly jars, I keep them! Take off the label and wash them and they're ready to go.  Great for storing juices and many other things including your homemade salad dressings. A great tip I learned from culinary school is when the mustard jar is pretty much empty (remains on the sides that is hard to get completely out) then use that jar, with its leftover mustard to make a mustard vinaigrette!

• Olive oil - and you're going to want to get cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil and here's why.  First of all olive oil is the best oil out there because it is very heart healthy and has been linked to help fight cancer, lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, regulate blood sugars and preventing free radical damage. Be careful to read the labels of olive oil because there are a lot of different types. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the oil from the very first press of the olives and has great flavor.  Getting the cold pressed is extra special because it means that the oil has not been heat treated which alters the chemical make up.  Cold pressed, considered a "raw" ingredient because all of the nutrients have not been damaged and are ready for you to take in.  Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is more expensive but aren't you worth it?  You can learn more about oils from this great website  http://www.veghealthguide.com/oils-fats/. Other oils to use are grape seed oil, flax seed or flax oil, these need to be kept cold or else they will go rancid so only purchase these refrigerated and keep them refrigerated.

• An acid of some sort - Lemon juice (or any other citrus fruit) is great to use as well as vinegar. Usually, lemon juice is added to enhance the flavor of the vinegar and I always add a splash simply because I love lemon.  As far as the vinegar goes, there are so many types of vinegar out there so get creative!

        Types of vinegar I love to use

        Apple cider Vinegar (raw if possible)

        Balsamic Vinegar

        Sherry Wine Vinegar 

        Rice Wine Vinegar Mirin 
        Champagne Vinegar 
        
*Fun fact! Vinegar and aluminum don't mix.  If, for some reason, you have an aluminum bowl or pan don't use it if you have vinegar as part of your ingredients. The vinegar will leach the aluminum from the bowl causing whatever you're making to have a metallic taste. 

• Sea Salt and Pepper

That's as basic as it gets.  The formula for vinaigrette is 3:1 ratio of oil to vinegar. That's important to remember because if switch it around, 3 parts vinegar to 1 part oil then the concoction would be extremely sour! So remember, 3:1 oil to vinegar. Here's what I do...I grab a small glass jar with a lid and either eyeball the measurements or use a tablespoon. 

Serving for 1-2 single portioned salads 

3 tablespoons Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (or organic EVOO)

1 tablespoon vinegar of choice

Splash of lemon juice
Drizzle of honey

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pour all the ingredients into the glass jar, place the lid on top and shake like crazy!  Done!

If you want to mix it up, try different vinegar since each one has it's own unique taste and quality. 

Other great ingredients to add are:

Fresh garlic

Fresh herbs

Mustard

Honey or Maple syrup 

Zest of citrus

Ginger

Poppy seeds

Sesame seeds

Spices

Tahini 

Nut Butters 

Cashew Cream 

Vegenaise (Vegan Mayo)

Toasted Sesame Oil

There are endless possibilities.  Dressings can be used for so many dishes not only salads. I love to use a citrus vinaigrette in quinoa dishes, toasted sesame dressing on coleslaw, tahini nut butter in Thai dishes and so on. They can be used as marinades for vegetables or tofu, with pasta and grains, or just on sauted veggies. Have fun with it and be creative. 

Stay tuned for future "Basic" posts!

Love,

K