Salad dressing in stock

Ingredients for 10 servings:

• 5 tsp herbs, dried
• 90 g water
• 30 g balsamic vinegar, lighter
• 30 g mustard, mild
• 20 g oil, neutral
• 10 g oil, fine (e.g. macadamia nut or truffle oil)
• Salt
• possibly tomatoes, dried, diced
• possibly garlic, diced
• optionally diced onion(s)

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 15 minutes

goes well with cucumber salad, green salad or mushroom salad

The quantity is designed to fit into a 250 ml sauce bottle, leaving plenty of room for shaking. For a salad for two people, the amount is easily enough for five servings – more or less, depending on your taste. To measure, choose a teaspoon that fits through the neck of the bottle. First, pour the herbs into the jar and then add the water. Swirl the mixture around so that all the herbs have absorbed the water and are no longer floating dry on top. Now add the light balsamic vinegar (e.g., honey balsamic). Then add the mustard (I always use honey, fig, or dill mustard), the oils, salt, and pepper. Close the lid, shake well, and you’re done. Since ml equals g with water, I always put the bottle on the scale (zero, tare) and pour directly into the sauce, saving myself the need for a measuring jug. Do the same with the balsamic vinegar and the oils. For the mustard quantity, I take the opposite approach: I place the mustard jar without the lid on the scale, check the weight, and then use a teaspoon to scoop out just enough mustard and transfer it to the required amount. This way, you can’t over-dispense it. If the spoon fits completely into the bottle, you can then “rinse” it thoroughly by stirring. Rapeseed oil has proven to be a good base oil. The refined portion can be macadamia nut or truffle oil, for example, or anything else that inspires your imagination. If that’s not available, the same amount of base oil or olive oil will also work. I carefully grind salt and pepper fresh (only with salt if I use rose salt) to a teaspoon. I can hit the mark better with the mill than with the bottle opening. With mushroom salad, the dressing shouldn’t be added too early, otherwise the mushrooms will absorb too much dressing and become mushy. Let it sit for a maximum of half an hour, but then mix well so that all sides of the mushrooms are coated. Variation with tomatoes: I’ve found that the color of the dish depends entirely on the mustard. Red mustard looks unappealing. Then go all red: tomato mustard instead of green, strong, dark (e.g., aceto) balsamic vinegar instead of light, and add finely chopped, sun-dried tomatoes after the herbs (amount? About two to three teaspoons) and the water. After tossing, however, leave a break (30 minutes or more) so the tomatoes absorb only the water and not the balsamic vinegar. Caution: If the tomatoes are salty, I wouldn’t add any more salt. It’s better to season afterward. Variation with garlic: 1/8 – 1/4 of freshly chopped Asian garlic isn’t unpleasant to eat and has no smell. It’s definitely a plus that it’s left to infuse overnight. Variation with onions: A few teaspoons of finely chopped diced onion are a good compromise if you don’t like onions in your salad. Because they’re well-infused, they’re neither spicy nor harsh. The dressing will keep in the refrigerator for about 10 days. Two bottles (or more, depending on the party size) also make great gifts for the salad buffet (don’t forget the ingredient label).