When it comes to basics, one of the first things we should think about making is salad dressing, especially if we are having a large salad for lunch each day as I suggest in my Easy Elephant Eating Plan. salad for lunch post
When I first started eating Paleo Primal, I have to admit that I bought dressing because I thought it would be too much of a hassle to make. When I finally made my first batch of mayonnaise I realized I should have done this way sooner.
Making your own dressings take minutes, and since it's something we use so much it really is important to be consuming the right ingredients. I have yet to find a bought dressing that does not have vegetable oil in it, and even though you might think "a little veg oil won't hurt." It does add up over time.
Once you've started making your own, a whole new world will open up to you. You will be amazed at the multitude of variations that are available for you to make, and today I'm going to give you just a handful of these to start you off on this adventure.
Dressings fall into two catagories - vineigrette type and creamy type. I make one of each on my basic day. I don't make more because fresh dressings don't really keep more than a week at most, and as I said, if I run out it only takes a few minutes to make more.
Let's look at the creamy type first since I've already done a post on making mayonnaise which is used as a basis for many of these.
mayonnaise recipe
The first dressing that comes to mind for just about everyone is Caesar. This is a great staple to keep in your fridge because it goes with any type of leftover roasted or grilled meat, chicken or seafood you might have from your dinner.
Just take a few handfuls of greens, add the chopped protein, a bit of dressing, and you have a great Caesar salad meal.
Paleo Caesar Dressing
There are as many variations of this as there are cookbooks, but the basics are pretty much the same in most of them.
Ingredients :
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic (approx. 2 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- the juice of 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 anchovy filets (optional)
- 1/2 cup of olive oil (extra virgin is best for this)
Directions :
- Put all the ingredients other than the oil into a blender.
- Blend for a minute or two until all the ingredients are combined.
- VERY SLOWLY (this is the secret) add the olive oil while running the blender. Don't add too quickly or you will just end up with an oily mess. As you add the oil you will notice the dressing slowly thickening.
This makes approx. 1 cup of dressing. Refrigerate until needed.
Fresh dill is best, and it's easy to keep this on hand. Buy a bunch on your shopping day, chop it up when you're making your basics, and keep it in a small container in your freezer. Then you can take out however much you need.
Also, if you can afford this, macadamia nut oil makes a great replacement for the olive oil and gives you a much more delicately flavoured mayonnaise.
Aioli Dressing
This is another mayonnaise dressing that is really delicious, especially if you love garlic. And it's simple to make. Just add a teaspoon of garlic, chopped very fine and a teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary to about a third of a cup of mayonnaise. You could also use dried Italian spice mix as an alternative. I love this with cold roast beef.
Coleslaw is one of those things that tastes the best once the flavour of the dressing has been allowed to seep into the vegetables, so make up a batch of coleslaw on your basics day and add to your salads throughout the week.
You can get pre-shredded coleslaw mix. I like using the broccoli one as well and mixing it in with the cabbage. This is a great way of getting all the nutritional value of many different raw vegetables.
Ingredients :
- 1/2 cup home-made mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon celery seed (optional)
Mix and use. This will cover two bags of chopped slaw - either all cabbage or the two combined the way I do it.
This not only is a popular salad dressing, it also makes a great dip for raw vegetables.
Ingredients :
- 1/2 cup of home-made mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup of buttermilk or sour cream
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon finely minced red onion
- 1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- a few drops of hot sauce (optional)
Directions :
- Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend well. If the dressing seems too thick, add a bit of vinegar or even a little water to thin it to the consistency you prefer.
This is great to make when avocados are in season and will give you lots of extra potassium in your diet as well. I like this with greens, chopped tomato, and cold cilantro lime chicken leftovers. cilantro lime chicken recipe
Ingredients :
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons of salsa ( or just use some hot sauce if you don't have any)
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup of olive oil (extra virgin is best)
Directions :
- Scoop the avocado out of it's skin into a blender (minus the pit of course). Add all the rest of the ingredients other than the oil and blend.
- Add the oil a little at a time and blend until this is all incorporated. It's not as important with this to go slowly as it is when you make mayo, but it still helps to take your time if you want a smooth creamy dressing.
This is absolutely delicious on a spinach salad, and gives you the added bonus of bacon bits on your salad as well. Add a poached egg and you've got an amazing and very filling meal.
Ingredients :
- 4 slices of bacon, chopped small
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon of chopped onion
- any kind you have will do
- 1/4 teaspoon of finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions :
- Fry the bacon until it's crispy. Remove and set aside.
- Put all the rest of the ingredients into a blender and add 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from your pan.
- Blend everything together.
- Toss with greens and top with cooked bacon.
Now we come to the second type of dressing - vinaigrette. Here is my basic recipe and a few variations. Don't be afraid to try some of your own. Just about any oil with any vinegar will work. Add herbs and/or spices of your own and you will have your own made-to-order recipe.
If you have never made this before, I suggest you start with olive oil and lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, then experiment from there. You're limited only by your imagination.
Ingredients :
- 1/4 cup of vinegar
- 3/4 cup of oil
- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs
- dried doesn't work that well here (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
Directions :
- Put all the ingredients other than the oil into a blender and blend until combined.
- Keeping the blender running, add the oil slowly until you've added the whole amount.
I love to make this in the winter when the oranges are in season. I don't eat lots of oranges because of the sugar, but adding this dressing to my salad gives me all the flavour I'd otherwise miss. And sometimes I do splurge and add a few pieces of fresh orange as well.
This is especially good with a few slices of cooked beets and a sprinkling of walnuts.
Ingredients :
- juice of one fresh orange
- 1 teaspoon of freshly grated orange rind (grate this before you use the orange for juice)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
- 3/4 cup of olive oil (extra virgin is best. You can also use nut oil - walnut or macadamia - for a great variation.)
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions :
- Put all the ingredients other than the oil into a blender and blend until combined.
- Keeping the blender running, add the oil slowly until you've added the whole amount.
Make sure you use organic raspberries for this. Here a small amount will go a long way.
This dressing has so many possibilities. Would you have thought it would go with cooked salmon? I didn't but it was delicious!
Ingredients :
- 1/2 a container of raspberries (or use thawed frozen raspberries)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
- 3/4 cup of oil (olive or nut)
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions :
- Put all the ingredients other than the oil into a blender and blend until combined.
- Keeping the blender running, add the oil slowly until you've added the whole amount.
Finally I want to give you my recipe for Pesto. It's not usually thought of as a dressing but I love it on salads, especially seafood ones.
And in the summer when the tomatoes are in season, a plateful drizzled with pesto is to die for, especially with a few added slices of Provolone or mozzarella cheese to go with it.
gnocchi recipe
Paleo Pesto
Ingredients :
- 3 cups of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (approx. 3 large cloves)
- 1/2 cup of pine nuts (or walnuts)
- 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
- 3/4 cup of olive oil (extra virgin is best)
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions :
- Put the nuts, parmesan and garlic in your food processor and pulse until everything is just mixed.
- Add the basil and pulse a few more times until the basil is well chopped and everything is mixed.
- Turn on the processor and SLOWLY pour in the oil, scraping down the sides of the processor when necessary to incorporate everything evenly.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Variation : In the winter when basil is expensive I've made this with baby spinach, and though different, it's still been very good.
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This should give you a nice variety of dressings to choose from, and now that you have some basic recipes you can experiment with your own mixtures of oils, herbs and vinegars.
"Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates
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