How To Make Vinaigrette Dressing
Homemade dressing is very awesome and extremely easy to make. With a couple of ingredients that you probably already have in your house, you can make a dressing to match an salad combination you can think of.
First start out with an acid, like lemon juice or vinegar. this is going to give your dressing the flavorful bite you are looking for. Next, you have to mellow out that bit with a little something sweet like honey, agave or maple syrup and even white or brown sugar, just a bit will do. Also, I like to add some minced shallots, which are little, sweet, French onion to the dressing to give some extra flavor.
Now we will add some mustard. This ingredients acts as an "emulsifier" or as I like to call it "the friend maker". The mustard will add a boost of flavor but it will also combine the unlike ingredients - vinegar and olive oil - into one fantastic dressing. Whisk in a pinch of salt, pepper and dried herbs to give a further blast of flavor and then slowly whisk in the olive oil on little dribble at a time. You will notice that the dressing will start to become thick and rich as the oil combines with the vinegar and the mustard.
Basic Vinaigrette Dressing
Place the first 5 ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the olive oil very slowly until the dressing is thick. Season with more salt and pepper if you like and store in a sealed container.