Basic Vinaigrette and Variations

Salad dressing doesn’t get any healthier than this! The combination of raw organic apple cider vinegar and organic extra virgin olive oil nurtures your senses and your body. Add your favorite spices or try out new, fascinating ideas which I’ll give in the end of the post.

Ingredients on a plate.

Tips for making the vinaigrette

It’s easiest to prepare this vinaigrette in a jar with a tightly closed lid. Just put all the ingredients in the jar, close the lid tightly and shake vigorously. That’s it! So quick and so easy. You can also use blender for thicker, more homogeneous emulsion, if you like.

If you have some powdery seasonings, it’s best to either sprinkle them on top of the olive oil and vinegar mixture, or combine them first with the vinegar and shake vigorously, and after that add the oil and shake again vigorously. If you add the powdery seasonings to the oil, they tend to form lumps. If you use blender, you don’t have this problem.

One of my favorite additions to this vinaigrette is raw egg yolk. It gives volume, lightness and color, and makes the vinaigrette really thick, mayonnaise-like sauce. If you are concerned about using raw eggs, you can simply omit the egg yolk, or replace it with a hard-boiled egg yolk which you have mashed first finely with a fork. However, hard-boiled egg-yolk doesn’t bring that airy touch what the raw egg yolk does.

This vinaigrette gets better if the flavors can marinate for a few hours.

This recipe makes quite a small amount of dressing, 4 servings. For a bigger crowd, you can double or multiply the ingredient amounts.

Testing, testing… Delicious salad dressing-to-be, could you believe that?

My experiments with this vinaigrette

I developed this recipe last summer. I wanted to make a classic vinaigrette dressing. I browsed through different vinaigrette recipes. Mainly I was interested in the ratio of vinegar to oil. The classic ratio seemed to be 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. That’s also what I wanted to try out.

Since to my knowledge organic extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest oil and raw apple cider vinegar is the healthiest vinegar, it was natural for me to use those in my experiments.

But what to add for seasoning the vinaigrette? Salt, naturally. I prefer unrefined sea salt, since it’s the healthiest salt I know. Some pepper, too. Finely ground white or black pepper might suit well. A drop or two stevia, for rounding the flavors.

Vinaigrette with egg yolks.

My husband eats nowadays salad for lunch at work. I prepare that salad for him in the previous evening or early in the morning. That has been a great opportunity for me to try out different variations of this salad dressing. Those variations also bring some variety to his lunch.

Actually, every time I make this vinaigrette, I make a different variation. The possibilities are endless.

Variations (from the left): mustard and dill, strawberries and basil and garlic bread seasoning.

Tips for variation

Add your favorite seasonings and additions to this vinaigrette. Just add them at the same time with the oil and vinegar and mix until smooth. (See my tip above, in “Tips for making this vinaigrette”, for adding powdery seasonings.) Here are some ideas:

• 1/4 cup (60 ml) sour cream
• 1 hard-boiled organic egg, mashed with a fork
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs or 1–2 teaspoons dried herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley, …)
• 1–2 tablespoons finely crushed freeze-dried berries, like raspberries or strawberries
• 1–2 tablespoons finely chopped onion or garlic
• 1 tablespoon organic sugar-free juice, like raspberry or cranberry juice
• 1 tablespoon organic applesauce
• 1–2 teaspoons ready spice mixes like garlic bread seasoning, all-purpose seasoning, garam masala or cajun seasoning
• 1–2 teaspoons mustard (sugar-free mustard or mustard powder)
• 1–2 pinches ground pepper (black, green, white, rose, …)
• 1–2 pinches chili powder or chili flakes
• A few drops liquid stevia
• A dash of flavor extract, such as orange flavor
• A dash of liquid smoke

 


 
Below are some fascinating combinations which I have tested and found delicious when added to the basic vinaigrette:

• 1 teaspoon mustard powder and 1 teaspoon dill weed (especially great with fish and other sea food)
• 2 tablespoons finely crushed freeze-dried strawberries and 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons pomegranate powder and 4 drops liquid stevia
• 2 pinches garam masala and 5 drops liquid stevia
• 1 tablespoon 100% sea buckthorn juice and 4 drops liquid stevia

These additions add some carbs as well, however the carb count is still very low per serving.
 


 
My personal favorite additions are 2 egg yolks and 4 drops liquid stevia. In blender, this makes a thick, mayonnaise-like dressing, which you can use also as a dip. Whichever flavor combination I use for this vinaigrette, I tend to add stevia almost every time, it rounds the flavors perfectly.

Photographing is done, time to enjoy the spread!

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