Types of Salad Dressings
from http://quamut.com/

Salad dressings are essentially uncooked sauces that contribute moisture, body, and complementary flavor to salads. A salad dressing can be as simple as a few splashes of oil and vinegar or as complex as a deeply flavored vinaigrette with a dozen herbs and spices. Most dressings can be made in minutes or even seconds. Once you understand the basics of how to make dressings, you’ll be ready to add bold new flavors to your favorite salads.

The Key Ingredients of Salad Dressing

All salad dressings contain two basic components: a fat and an acid.

How to Make Vinaigrettes

Vinaigrettes are the simplest type of salad dressing to make: they often feature nothing more than an acid, oil, and some salt and pepper. Most vinaigrettes are made with a ratio of 3 parts oil to 1 part acid, though the particular acid used may bring this ratio down to 2:1. Because vinegar and oil don’t mix naturally, vinaigrettes need to be whisked vigorously just before serving to ensure that they’re well mixed and balanced. To make a vinaigrette:

  1. Combine the acid and seasonings in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Salt, sugar, and ground spices do not dissolve in oil, so be sure to mix these ingredients well into the acid at this point.

  2. Add the oil in a slow drizzle with one hand while whisking with the other. If your bowl is rocking or slipping on the counter as you whisk, wrap a damp kitchen towel around the bowl to keep it steady.

  3. Once all the ingredients are well combined, taste the vinaigrette and adjust the seasonings if necessary. The dressing should feel silky in your mouth, and the vinegar or citrus juice should be assertive but not overpowering. If the dressing tastes sharply acidic, whisk in a small amount of oil. If it tastes dull and oily, add more acid. This balance is a matter of taste, but also consider how robust or delicate the flavors in your salad are. Delicate-tasting greens need a subtle dressing, whereas grain or pasta salads can stand up to sharp dressings. Taste your vinaigrette immediately after whisking it, before the acid and oil have time to separate.

You can also make a vinaigrette in a plastic container that has a tightly sealed lid. Simply place the acid and any salt, sugar, and spices in the container and close tightly. Shake vigorously to combine. Add the oil, seal the container, and shake vigorously again until the dressing comes together.

How to Make Emulsified Dressings

Emulsified dressings combine oil and vinegar with a third ingredient (usually mustard or egg yolks) that helps the dressing become a unified, stable liquid that’s less likely to separate. Dressings made with mustard tend to form only temporary emulsions, so they need to be whisked or shaken again just prior to serving. On the other hand, dressings emulsified with egg yolks, such as Caesar dressing, rarely separate once made. Emulsified dressings can be made by hand with a whisk or in a blender or food processor. Using either technique:

  1. Combine everything but the oil in one bowl.

  2. While agitating the ingredients (either with the whisk or the blender or food processor blade), slowly and evenly pour in the oil.

Creamy Salad Dressings

Creamy dressings can be made from a variety of ingredients. Many popular dressings such as Ranch, Russian, and Creamy Italian use mayonnaise as a base. Regular and low-fat mayonnaise varieties can be used interchangeably in dressing recipes.

Creamy dressing may also use heavy cream, sour cream, yogurt, crème fraîche, buttermilk, or tahini as their base. They rely less on oil than vinaigrettes and emulsified dressings because the fat content of the creamy ingredients usually provides much of the body necessary in a balanced dressing.