Do you make your own salad dressing?

[True2marie]

Whenever I watch the Food Network, chefs always make their own salad dressing. I think the average consumer picks up a bottle from the local grocer. These days, they have a large offering of salad dressing with natural ingredients. My favorite brand is Hidden Valley Farmhouse Originals.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I only use my own salad dressings. they are so easy and quick to make and I can leave out or add in what I want and control the flavour. I only make up enough for that way - a few minutes whilst waiting for a kettle to boil - takes no time at all.

 

[MyDigitalpoint]

Can't vote at all. I love to make my own salad dressings, but I don't have inconvenience to buy a bottle from the grocery store either if needed or in an emergency case.

In fact I have some already in my pantry that either use for the purpose of a last minute preparation, and sometime to mix with my own as a culinary experiment

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

It had been years already since I change my eating lifestyle for good health. Fresh fruits and raw green vegetables are always part of my diet with my own version of salad dressing. I prepare it only the day whatever kind of salad I will eat. I want it always to be fresh and I am not much of using a salad dressing that is bought in a store with preservatives and long expiry dates.

 

[crimsonghost747]

It's very rare for me to use a salad dressing. Usually I just throw in some vinaigrette and that's it.
However if I do need dressing then it's going to be bought from the store but this happens maybe once or twice a year.

 

[FatherCrowe]

Mainly make it, I think much nicer than the bottled stuff.

Thats not to say there is the odd lazy occation when i'll buy some, but always think mine tastes better (IMO)

 

[PSLoveCharli]

Whenever I watch the Food Network, chefs always make their own salad dressing. I think the average consumer picks up a bottle from the local grocer. These days, they have a large offering of salad dressing with natural ingredients. My favorite brand is Hidden Valley Farmhouse Originals.

I still buy store dressing, but I prefer creating my own. It's simple since I don't care for a lot of dressing, only a splash: Olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Sometimes I'll mix in a little mayo too.

 

[rosacrux]

I do not like dressings too much as they are high in fat. Most of the time I only use olive oil, vinegar or soy sauce. On rare occasions I make vinaigrette or humus.

 

[Tara]

Whenever I watch the Food Network, chefs always make their own salad dressing.

I learned how to make my salad dressing from watching cooking shows on the Food Network. I still buy my favorite bottle salad dressing. When I finally figure out how to duplicate it, I will completely give up bottled salad dressing.

 

[isabbbela]

Yes, I always make my own dressing instead of buying it ready. I love creating different salad dressings, I find it really affects my appetite for the salad, and therefore it's really important for me to have a good tasty dressing. Another reason why I make my own is because ready dressings can get reeeeally fat and calorie packed. I used to buy those salads that come ready in the supermarket with dressing on the side (the bacon spinach from Trader Joe's was my favorite!)... that was until I stopped to check the calories. Whereas the salad wasn't that fattening, the dressing alone had around 600 calories. Yes, you heard that right, 600!!
I will usually make my dressings with some greek yogurt, lime and some herbs. Some light mayo also tastes pretty good!

 

[OhioTom76]

I try to, since the store bought ones taste so incredibly artificial. My problem with making my own dressings though, is most of the recipes I've tried I didn't really care for. I have yet to find a decent recipe for a good homemade Italian dressing. Every time I make it myself, it tastes bland, and/or the flavors are just off - can't quite put my finger on it. Also the dried herbs never seem to soften up, and it has a weird mouth feel. I think they put maltodextrin and other stuff in store bought Italian dressings to help give it a more viscous quality and to aid with the dressing not separating.

One recipe that I did really like however was over at ChipotleFan.com, they have a copycat recipe for Chipotle's house dressing which is really good. I've never ordered salad there to compare how close it is, but regardless it's great on its own.

 

[FatherCrowe]

I try to, since the store bought ones taste so incredibly artificial. My problem with making my own dressings though, is most of the recipes I've tried I didn't really care for. I have yet to find a decent recipe for a good homemade Italian dressing. Every time I make it myself, it tastes bland, and/or the flavors are just off - can't quite put my finger on it. Also the dried herbs never seem to soften up, and it has a weird mouth feel. I think they put maltodextrin and other stuff in store bought Italian dressings to help give it a more viscous quality and to aid with the dressing not separating.

One recipe that I did really like however was over at ChipotleFan.com, they have a copycat recipe for Chipotle's house dressing which is really good. I've never ordered salad there to compare how close it is, but regardless it's great on its own.

I find that if you beat / whisk / stir a vinegar and oil together enough it becomes pretty viscous. The difference is that it will separate after a short amount of time but my food doesn;t normally last that long!

Although I've made some dressings I would prefer to forget not sure I've had any bland ones. But using better olive oils and vinegars always helps but then worlds your oyster. Wholegrain mustard is a simple one mixed in, punchy!

 

[LivetoErr]

I make our own salad dressing because the brand the my family likes isn't available for sale here. My family will only eat Catalina. What we can get here, French isn't suitable. I searched online for a copy cat recipe and found one that, after a few tweaks, my family likes better. If it became available here, I'd probably buy a bottle for the days where there wasn't enough time to make more (and let it chill) but, would still make our own since, at least, there are no preservatives in it.