Gourmet Green Salad with Homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette

I love salad. I love salad even more when its served with a homemade dressing. This recipe takes two items I love and combines them well. This salad recipe is also easily adapted to ingredients you have on hand so don't think you can't make this just because you don't have all the ingredients listed. This came from one of my favorite blogs, Melanie and My Kitchen Cafe. We have the same taste in food and like many of the same recipes. If you haven't checked her out you really need to visit. This is a very simple salad recipe with a simple to make salad dressing. Making your own croutons is just an added bonus especially if your like me and can't stand the ones you buy.

Gourmet Green Salad with Homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette
My Kitchen Cafe

Salad:
10-12 cups mixed greens
1 pound white button mushrooms, sliced
2 ripe, fresh pears, sliced thinly
1/4 cup thinly sliced Parmesan cheese (use a vegetable peeler to do this)
1 large carrot (or about 5-6 baby carrots), thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
5-7 slices of bacon, cooked and coarsely chopped
3 cups of homemade croutons (see Mel's blog for a how to recipe if you don't know how)

Put mixed greens in a large salad bowl. Top with other ingredients and toss. Serve with red wine vinaigrette dressing below (or any other favorite salad dressing).

Red Wine Vinaigrette:
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup red onions, finely grated (about 1/4 of a large red onion)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper to taste
2 cups canola oil

Add all ingredients except oil in a blender. Blend well. While processing, slowly add the canola oil and blend well. Transfer dressing to a jar or cruet. It keeps well in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks (although I’ve found it gets a little thick if it is too cold so I’ll pop it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to help thin it out before I use it if it has been in the refrigerator for several days).

Basil Vinaigrette

Don't let the coloring fool you this was a great tasting dressing. Once it's on your salad you won't notice that it's green in color. The flavors combined well to make a great tasting vinaigrette. It's simple and easy to make and so much better tasting than a bottled dressing.

Basil Vinaigrette
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 of a shallot
1 garlic clove
4 fresh basil leaves (larger ones, if you have small ones you may need more)
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until blended smooth.

Foolproof Vinaigrette

Sorry for not posting recipes on a more regular basis lately. I've been sick plus we've had a few things going on with the family that we have been working on. On to more important things, another wonderful salad dressing. As most know I no longer buy salad dressing at the store as I much prefer the taste of a homemade dressing. Plus as an added bonus you can customize almost all dressings you make at home into a flavor you really like. My husband loves vinaigrette dressings while I do not. My dislike of the vinaigrette's is because they seem oily and bitter tasting. Well this one is neither. I am in love with this dressing and can't wait to mix some other variations into this dressing.

Foolproof Vinaigrette
adapted slightly from Cook's illustrated Sept/Oct 2009

1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons very finely minced shallot
1/2 teaspoon regular or light mayo
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Combine vinegar, shallot, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, and sugar in small bowl. Whisk until mixture is milky in appearance and no lumps of mayo remain.

Place oil in small measuring cup so that it is easy to pour. Whisking constantly, very slowly drizzle oil into vinegar mixture. If pools of oil are gathering on the surface as you whisk, stop addition of oil and whisk mixture well to combine, then resume whisking in oil in slow stream. Vinaigrette should be glossy and lightly thickened, with no pools of oil on its surface.

Thousand Island Dressing

This was my first attempt at homemade Thousand Island dressing and it was a success. There are so many recipes out there and most I did not have all of the ingredients on hand for so I ended up combining several recipes into one. My husband claims it tastes like the Thousand Island dressing he remembers from New York. This was quick and really easy to throw together. You could throw it together and serve right away but if you let it set for a few hours the flavors develop better. My usual warning about flavors start with small amounts and adjust to your taste. Listed below are the amounts of spices I started with but I did some adjusting to make it more to our liking which I do not remember what the final amounts were.

1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 mayonnaise
1/4 cup dill relish
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
4-5 drops hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine everything and mix until blended. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Cucumber Salad with Ranch Dressing

I love cucumber salad although I usually make a vinaigrette type of dressing for the cucumber salad. This time, however I tried something different and gave ranch dressing a try. The idea came from a cookbook I checked out of the library called The Texas Cowboy Cookbook. Its an interesting cookbook that goes through the history of cowboy cooking along with lots of recipes. This was a quick and easy salad to make that the whole family enjoyed.

Cucumber Salad
The Texas Cowboy Book

2 cucumbers
1/4 onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup homemade ranch dressing (recipe following at bottom of this recipe)

Peel cucumber and slice very thin. Slice the onion very thinly and combine it with the cucumbers in a bowl. Add salt, cover, and allow to sit in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain off the water and pat dry with a paper towel. Add the dressing and mix well. Serve cold.

Homemade Ranch Dressing
The Texas Cowboy Book

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream (or substitute plain yogurt)
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Add the bell pepper, onion, cilantro, garlic, pepper, and salt and mix well. The dressing will keep for a week in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Creamy Italian Salad Dressing

Another great salad dressing from Cook's Country. This is from their April/May 2009 issue. Overall it was a great dressing however I should point out that the size of the shallot is going to make a difference. I used a medium shallot and it was over powering. I suggest using a small sized shallot.

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Whisk vinegar, Parmesan, shallot, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes in small bowl. Microwave until cheese is melted (vinegar will look cloudy) and mixture is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Let cool.

Process mayo, sour cream, basil, and vinegar mixture in food processor until smooth. With motor running, slowly add oil until incorporated, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. (Dressing can be refrigerated in airtight container for 4 days.)

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

Another salad dressing. I know I post them it seems all the time but we are big salad eaters in our house. I really can not handle the taste of bottled salad dressing anymore so I have fun trying new recipes for dressing. This one was really tasty and had lots of flavor. It was easy to make, called for no exotic ingredients, and could be made minutes before the salad without needing time for flavors to blend. I think this would also make a nice dipping sauce for chicken nuggets or even a sauce for a chicken sandwich or my chicken wraps. I found the recipe at allrecipes.

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, and lemon juice. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

I love this salad dressing. It tastes like the salad dressing used at Cafe Rio. I love that it is very easy to make and I've found that I used it for more than a knock off Cafe Rio dish. I've used the dressing for just a regular salad, on my Chicken Wraps , or as in the picture above on a taco salad. You can use this dressing in place of ranch in pretty much any recipe.


1 package Ranch Buttermilk Dressing mix
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup Mayonnaise (I use half mayo and half sour cream)
3 fresh tomatillos
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Just put everything in a blender and puree.Refrigerate for a couple of hours and if you need to, adjust the thickness by adding more buttermilk to thin it out, or sour cream to make it thicker.

Greek Salad Dressing

This is the last of the Greek recipes from my Greek dinner. I've made several recipes over the years looking for the perfect Greek salad dressing recipe and although this one is not perfect it has been the best I've tried so far. I will admit I think it calls for a little too much olive oil as the dressing tasted very oily but maybe I'm just a little too picky. I did add one teaspoon of sugar. It was a trick I read about in the Cook's Country magazine a few years back. Another addition was 2 tablespoons of feta cheese. I put all the ingredients into a food processor and blended them together. The feta cheese adds great flavor and sort of a creamy taste. I found the recipe here.

1/2 Cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
2 teaspoons shallot, minced
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh basil, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon or whole-grain mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Directions

Combine all ingredients except oil in a medium mixing bowl with a wire whisk. Once ingredients are combined, slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking to form an emulsion. Makes 2 Cups

Roquefort Dressing

Just a few years ago you couldn't get me to eat blue cheese salad dressing or anything with blue cheese in it. My taste buds must have grown up as I know can stomach eating blue cheese. Now I'm very picky about my blue cheese and it must have a mild flavor to it but I really like the stuff. So Saturday I was at Harmon's and craving blue cheese salad dressing. They have a really nice gourmet cheese bar at the Roy store and I really love the cheese bar. I ask for a mild blue cheese and the lady behind the bar suggested Roquefort. I'm quite pleased with the taste and I have to say I really like the dressing I made with the roquefort. I found the recipe on epicurious and after reading the comments I changed a few things. I'm posting the link to the recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ROQUEFORT-DRESSING-14306
but I am posting the recipe in the form that I used.

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco, or to taste
5 ounces Roquefort, crumbled coarse (about 1 cup)

In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients except Roquefort until smooth and stir in Roquefort and salt and pepper to taste.

Greek Dinner

We love eating at University Broiler and I've been trying to find a recipe that comes close to their food. I found the rice and chicken recipe on Kayln's kitchen blog (I have a link on the right side of my blog) and the potato and salad dressing recipe on Allrecipes. The chicken was good, Don thought the chicken was great as did they boys who ate all that was given to them, but I thought it was not quite what I wanted. But then I don't like lemon on my chicken much although I do love the University Broiler's. The rice was perfect. I really really like the rice and although it didn't taste just like the UB I thought it was better. The potatoes were good but missing something. I did add a little of the salad dressing to them as I served them but they were still missing something. The salad dressing is great. Made just like the recipe on allrecipes its a little bitter so I added some sugar to mask the bitter taste. You may like it with the bitter taste so I'm leaving the recipe as it is on allrecipes.

Very Greek Grilled Chicken

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/03/very-greek-grilled-chickenfrom-recipe.html

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 tsp. powdered lemon peel

1 tsp. Greek seasoning

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

1 tsp. dried oregano

black pepper to taste

Trim all visible fat and membranes from chicken breasts, I like to make small crosswise slits about 1/2 inch apart down the length of each chicken breast to help the marinade penetrate the meat. Put chicken in single layer in zip-loc bag. Combine marinade ingredients and pour over. Marinate in refrigerator 6-8 hours or all day if desired. (If you don't have that long to marinate I recommend increasing the lemon juice a little.) Preheat grill to medium-hot and grill chicken 20-25 minutes, or until well browned and firm but not hard to the touch. (This could also be cooked on a stove-top grill pan, or broiled.)

Georgette's Really Lemony Greek Pilafi

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2005/09/georgettes-really-lemony-greek-pilafi.html

1 cup Uncle Ben's Converted Rice (not instant)

2 T olive oil (or 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil)

1 tsp. salt3 T lemon juice (or more)

3 C chicken stock
Use a heavy pan with a tight fitting lid. Saute rice in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add salt and lemon juice and saute 1 minute more. Add chicken stock carefully so it doesn't splash up on you, let it come to a boil, reduce heat to the lowest you can get it and still keep the liquid boiling and cook 30 minutes without peeking at all.After 30 minutes you are allowed to peek to see if all the liquid is absorbed. If not cook a few more minutes until it has. I find it usually takes 35 minutes, but I can't keep myself from peeking after 30 minutes.

Absolutely Fabulous Greek/House Dressing

1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1/2 cup and 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

In a very large container, mix together the olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, basil, pepper, salt, onion powder, and Dijon-style mustard. Pour in the vinegar, and mix vigorously until well blended. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Greek Style Potatoes

1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 cubes chicken bouillon
ground black pepper to taste
6 potatoes, peeled and quartered

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a small bowl, mix olive oil, water, garlic, lemon juice, thyme, rosemary, bouillon cubes and pepper.
Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom of a medium baking dish. Pour the olive oil mixture over the potatoes. Cover, and bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the preheated oven, turning occasionally, until tender but firm.

French Salad Dressing

This salad dressing was very tasty. This recipe came from either Cook's country or Cook's Illustrated.

1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated onion
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or more to taste)
Add all ingredients to lidded container and shake vigorously until combined. (Dressing can be refrigerated in airtight container for 1 week.)

Ranch dressing

I love ranch dressing but have started to not liking the bottled kinds. I love the ranch dressing at The Pie (in Ogden by WSU) and this tastes almost the same.



From Cook's country magazine, with a few changes for my taste:
makes about 1 cup of dressing

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup reduced fat mayo
2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 garlic clove grated
1 tablespoon fresh chives minced
1 tablespoon fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl, until smooth. Dressing can be stored for up to 4 days.