Salad Dressing Wars

You're making me hungry! I may buy a great salad tomorrow although I know the salad dressing is not good for me.

You listed ketchup, but not Caesar? WTF is wrong with you?

Ketchup isn't a salad dressing, it's toxic sludge.

I use nothing but vinegar or a lemon wedge. I have no use for oil on raw vegetables.

None of the above.

I'd risk a dirty drug test for poppy seed.

EVOO, really good red wine vinegar, and salt.

Caesar. Homemade. It's my new diet.

French and Ranch combined = Franch.

I read somewhere that the world laughs at Americans because we buy salad dressing instead of making it ourselves at home. See R6. Or go one step further and add a little mustard to your acid and good oil.

[quote] You listed ketchup, but not Caesar? WTF is wrong with you?

Caesar is more than a dressing-- it's a salad. I included ketchup for the fans of toxic sludge who waddle among us.

R8 Many of the vitamins in vegetables, K for example, are fat soluble. Putting oil on the vegetables helps the body absorb the nutrients in those vegetables.

You're welcome, you now have a use for oil on raw vegetables.

Thanks for the reminders to use "good" and "very good" oil and vinegar. I was tempted to use my bad oil and vinegar.

French wasn't listed either, that seems to be on every menu in the midwest

Olive oil with a few drops of vinegar.

R11 I don't care, oil on such things is disgusting.

I like creamy garlic

My favorite salad dressing is Bolthouse Farms Classic Vinaigrette. Very low calorie and made with olive oil or yoghurt in a variety of flavors.

My favorite on shrimp salads is Kens Thousand island.

Good Seasons

Well, I'm partial to Catalina.🤓

[quote]Caesar. Homemade.

[bold]With anchovy paste[/bold]

I make homemade Thousand Island: 50/50 mayo & sour cream, S&P, Ketchup, a couple of squirts of Lea & Peron, and my secret ingredient horseradish. It's good.

Blue Cheese is in second?!?!?

How do some of you fat bitchez type with those greasy fat fingers of yours?

I would kill for a classic Green Goddess. None of the ones on the market today taste like the Green Goddess of my childhood. The Kraft version is basically creamy Italian with green food coloring.

And don't tell me to just make it myself.

Blue cheese has mold in it

[quote]With anchovy paste

Bah! No taste. I use anchovies imported from Italy

For you eldergays -

Have you noticed no one uses FRENCH DRESSING anymore? It's the orange one.

Wish-Bone® Western® Original Salad Dressing

Green Goddess is a special luxury for when you have fresh herbs and are ready for a rich, deeply-flavored dressing (or dip, or marinade).

creamy French dressing with Blue cheese crumbles, We called it Country Club French in Kansas City

Extra virgin olive oil, vinegar (red wine, balsamic, sherry, champagne), salt.

And OP, ketchup? On salad? AYFKM???

Green Goddess. Those of you missing GG might try Penzeys GG dressing base. I can't attest as I haven't tried it. Frankly, I'm not even sure what GG is supposed to taste like. But I do like Penzeys products in general. They do have sales, sometimes.

I have never had homemade Green Goddess. Perhaps that would change my mind about it.

I loved French dressing as a Midwestern kid (or Russian or Catalina, which were similar in bottled form), but it really seems to have fallen out of favor. Is it still a big thing in the Midwest?

Oil and vinegar.

R33 i think it has fallen out of favor, But i still love Wishbone's Creamy Deluxe French but they recently made an ever so slight change to it and created an outrage with remaining fans to no avail.

Midwestern kid here. I loved French dressing at the Big Boy. We didn't eat salad at home.

I make my own now. Ceasar (I use tinned anchovies) and vinaigrette with a good extra virgin olive oil, herbs, Dijon mustard, and a good quality vinegar.

R36 i made homemade Caesar tableside while working fine dining in college in the early 80s' , using anchovies AND raw egg!

I am going to try the recipe in r28. What's the difference between Catalina, French and Russian?

Wishbone zesty Italian makes an excellent marinade for chicken and shrimp kabobs when grilling.

That aside, one of the most memorable salad I've had was some combination of spinach, blue cheese, blue berries, and a blueberry sauce vinaigrette. Sounds simple, but I've never been able to replicate it.

I like Ken’s lite Caesar.

French is hard to find now.

All of the shelf stable dressings are so sweet now. If I don't feel like making my own, I like Litehouse foods Caesar, and homestyle ranch in the refrigerated section. They are much better, and I with they would make a green goddess. I keep suggesting it, but they just ignore me.

I never liked French/Russian/Catalina/Western - all way too sweet. The less said about the seemingly endless Raspberry Vinaigrette trend, the better.

You have to serve these dressings on iceberg lettuce, The “spring mix” at the grocers doesn’t hold up to these heavy ketchup or mayo based dressings.

Just Lemon, olive oil and salt for most salads. Maybe add pepper for tomatoes and green beans.

Grew up eating Thousand Island but haven't had it in years.

Green Goddess with avocado in the mix is the absolute best.

As a kid, my parents always had a job for us kids to do in the kitchen and i was often on "salad dressing" duty. i often made Caesar from scratch with anchovies (even though i hated fish) and loved the flavor. We had a salad with every dinner. Not kidding, every dinner. it was because we grew all our own vegetables (no store bought for us except spaghetti squash for some reason).

we also made our own mayo from scratch with raw egg, never bought the jarred kind. i'm sure it wasn't as good as the mythical Duke's which i've never tasted.

Some kind of vinaigrette. Mediterranean preferably.

If you don't like the idea of anchovies, here's a Caesar-like salad dressing I invented:

Oil.

Vinegar.

Pitted kalamata olives.

Garlic.

Blender.

Delicious.

Ina Garten’s vinaigrette. I usually use champagne vinegar but sometimes substitute an infused vinegar. I have it every single day and make enough for 5 servings at a time.

It would be better to mix it fresh as needed because it’s so simple but I’m lazy

Nobody has ever put ketchup on a salad. Nobody

Years ago Pizza Hut had a Romano Dressing for their salad bar that was really fabulous. Way back in my college days, you could get the salad bar at lunchtime for 99¢.

What's a good herb to add to yogurt to make a simple but good dressing? Garlic, pepper and salt... and...??

OP, no creamy Italian in your poll?

For shame! For shame, OP.

Ive always liked the sound of creamy Italians.

[quote]What's a good herb to add to yogurt to make a simple but good dressing? Garlic, pepper and salt... and...??

Fresh dill is the first thing I'd try, r52. I use it in a cold cucumber soup I make with yogurt. You could also add sliced scallion bottoms if you like their flavor.

Basil might also work, but I have never tried it with yogurt.

Thanks r55 actually I'll try the Basil first. I prefer it to dill.

Be sure you use fresh basil, r56. Dried basil is an abomination that should not exist.

Growing up there was a cafe in my hometown which had a great house dressing which was a carefully guarded secret. Similar to Catalina drawing but instead of using ketchup it uses chili sauce, so less sweet and more like a vinaigrette than a smooth dressing.

Balsamic vinegar

Thank you again r57.

We got take out from Red Robin a few nights ago. First, the regular vegie burger is delicious. Out of this world. It has a lot of stuff on it, including avocado. My son tried it and ate the whole thing even though he is not a vegetable fan (but yet, a vegetarian). Anyway, I asked for caesar dressing and they gave me stupid itallian. I guess because I've gotten so fat. (I forgot about ceasar dressing possibly not being vegetarian friendly. It's so good.)

We used to make salad dressing too. Oil and vinegar and then sprinkling in herbs. Later I moved to my French phase, then my thousand island phase, then bleu cheese (kind of still there). Sometimes ranch is good (a good ranch), balsalmic is delicious, and I love Ceasar. I want a salad. (Has anyone ever put two or three dressings on the same salad at a salad bar because you can't decide? I have.)

r48 - It sounds good but it's not "Caesar-like." You're not getting the emulsion from the egg yolk even if you are substituting for anchovies.

And R28 - you consider fresh herbs a luxury? Where do you live, Antarctica? Those herbs are available year round in the US.

I made homemade blue cheese salad dressing once. My God, it's rich. On top of that, I made it for a big family get-together, IIRC, a Thanksgiving. Not many people even tried it. My family is kind of waste to "cook" for, sometimes.

Dorothy Lynch Homestyle Salad Dressing for me, please. 🥗

Sorry, but it was nasty, r63.

You're not invited, next time, Aunt Delores.

Aunt Martha’s Old Fashioned Salad Dressing

I use Ken's Simply Vinaigrette as a base then add some Natural Rice Vinegar, lightly sprinkled with sugar and some celery seeds. This provides a nice light tangy/sweet dressing for hand shredded slaw. My grandmother (German) would use oil, vinegar and sugar when making her slaw and everyone loved it.

R68 - forgot to say the version of Simply Vinaigrette is Olive Oil & Vinegar that I use for above.

Damn. Some of you making your own dressing, I’m glad I don’t live with you.

Making dressing from scratch? I’d be big as a house with some of you. Some of it sounds soooooo good.

[quote] Making dressing from scratch? I’d be big as a house with some of you.

R70, that's the thing about making salad dressing, you can put what you like in it and you don't need to be as big as a house.

I buy Marzetti‘a balsamic vinaigrette lite. It’s 50 cals for 2 tblsp. I find it in the produce dept at Schnuck’s in St. Louis, MO.

R71, I truly meant that as a compliment. It’s like “damn! You make your own salad dressing too! Oh, hell yeah!”

I hope it came across that way.

I make Blue Cheese and Russian dressings. Blue Cheese is my absolute favorite. People have told me my BC is to die for. I have my own special technique.

In my house Russian and Thousand Island are the same dressings.

Im sure I'm the oddball, but I don't generally use salad dressing, and I eat salad, every day (I make it ahead of time for the week).

I often add tuna, oysters, salmon, trout, sardines, etc. (always in oil) so I generally think that is enough with splash of olive oil and some croutons.

I like the taste of carrots, spinach, arugula, tomatoes, etc. and most dressings just drown it out (and aren't really good for you).

[quote]Making dressing from scratch? I’d be big as a house with some of you.

That's why we mix it with salad.

Dorothy Lynch!!

Any of you who make the Caesar at home have a recipe?

I bought some Kefir because I was reading that is is very good for you compared to sour cream and it is tangy and low fat and has probiotics. I was googling and saw you can make a simple one with olive oil (healthy), dill, parsley and some garlic. Also you can make kefir ranch or avocado or herb so I will start trying that over fresh spinach salad. I dated an older Persian queen once who would make a dip with kefir, mint, dill and a bit of homemade mayo. It was amazing. Must o Khiar. He would drizzle it over lamb or salad or a lentil salad with bits of saffron marinated chicken. I almost proposed.

The best dressing I have eaten and am ever faithful to is Trader Joe's Romano Caesar. Next is their cilantro dressing which I put over a Mexican salad I make with black beans, corn, romaine, chopped tomatoes and red onions and marinated chicken breast.

R79, I'm sorry nobody's posting a Caesar dressing recipe, but I found this recipe from Taste of Home, which tests its recipes (or at least used to). The ingredients look correct to me as well.

At the risk of sounding pedestrian amongst you haughty dressing connoisseurs, the place I work now has all the meals pre-packaged for our meal breaks and all the salads come with a varying assortment of Ken's dressings. (We do not get to pick the dressings...it alternates daily between ranch, blue cheese, Golden Italian, Caesar, and Balsamic.) I've been shocked how good they are; Ken's is never something I'd pick out in the grocery aisle.

I try to eat a big salad for dinner anout twice a week. I rotate between Hidden Valley Ranch (the packet using the buttermilk), Catalina, and this simple healthier mixture that I found somewhere a long time ago-Lemon Garlic dressing.

Lemon Garlic Dressing: squeeze half lemon, crush garlic clove, let sit a few mins, add like 2 TB olive oil, a pinch or two sugar (or sweetener), dash salt&pepper, whisk in small bowl, done. (It's very easy and delicious, especially in summer.)

Salad should be a regular choice for dinner, I think. My body feels better the next day.

I agree r83. Ken's is surprisingly good.

Buy a bottle of Dorothy Lynch home style salad dressing at Walmart and pour it all over your lettuce!

I agree that Ken's is very good.

They have a lite Creamy Caesar that's excellent. I always make sure I'm stocked up.

FRENCH

For those of you who like Russian/Thousand Island dressing but don't like all the calories, make it with Hellman's Light Mayo (only 35 calories/Tbs) as opposed to 100+ for full fat mayo. Trust me on this.. NO ONE WILL KNOW IT'S NOT MADE WITH FULL FAT MAYO! But it has to be Hellman's (or Kraft Light Mayo if you can't find the Hellmans). Any other light mayo has a noxious taste that screams in the final product.

What about Oil and Vinegar with a bit of crumby blue cheese?? Very popular in Italian restaurants.

For Caesar I use a but of minced garlic, parmesan, pepper, lemon and olive oil. That is really all you need. You can put a dab of mayo too if you like.

That’s not Caesar r91. Anchovies (filets or paste), egg yolk and/or mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce. You need some sort of emulsifier which your recipe is missing.

Here's my recipe for blue cheese dressing. What I do differently than most recipes is I melt 1/2 of the blue cheese into the half & half. I believe it gives the final dressing a much smoother yet richer taste than just beating half of the cheese into the mixture until smooth as the original recipe calls for.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, divided

1/2 cup half and half

2 Tbs sour cream

1 Tbs lemon juice

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

Fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

DIRECTIONS

In a saucepan on very low heat combine the half & half and half of the blue cheese and heat until the cheese is completely melted. Remove from the heat, pour the sauce into a bowl and place into the refrigerator to allow to cool completely.

In a medium bowl whisk together all the ingredients except the other half of the crumbled blue cheese until well combined. Fold in the remaining blue cheese and season with pepper to taste.

Sounds good, R93. Thank you for sharing your recipe!

[quote] Salad should be a regular choice for dinner, I think.

Salad as the meal?! Salad is for before the meal. Salad is a promissory note that a good meal will soon arrive.

Fuck your precious recipe! Say fuck it and buy Kraft shit!

As a child, I was raised on French dressing, but in the 80s I discovered Catalina and have preferred it ever since.

When I'm in the mood for it, another go-to is Wishbone brand Russian dressing, which is quite different from the Thousand Island analogues most folk on the DL call Russian. This dressing is red and quite tangy, and has a distinctive flavor of ground celery seed. I've taken to using it on Reuben sandwiches when I make them.

My favorite bottled dressing is Wishbone Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette. It's labeled "light" but it doesn't taste anything like a light dressing.