My Salad Dressing

I believe in yummy food. I believe in real food. I do not believe in diet food because in order to remove calories, you have to add chemicals and additives, not to mention lots of sodium in many cases, to make up for removing the tasty ("fattening") bits.

If you count calories (I don't), I urge you to eat real calories from real food. Your body will thank you.

This is my first recipe suggestion and I have chosen it because I love it, it's made up of only real, healthy ingredients, and a little bit can go a long way.

I love salads. All kinds of salads. And I am a snob. I have yet to find a bottled dressing that tastes as good as homemade (mine, my friend Robin's or my cousin's). So here's my recipe. It's old-fashioned in the sense that you have to play around and find the right proportions for yourself. Amounts are very approximate.

Take a small jam jar. Fill it about 1/4 of the way with lemon juice.
Add the following:
1 clove garlic, crushed
a generous dollop of mayonnaise (regular, not low-fat)
about 1/2 a teaspoonful of Dijon mustard (buy good quality)
a little bit of honey (1/2 teaspoonful?--you'll have to go by taste)
a couple of shakes of mixed herbs (try "bouquet garni" or salad dressing herbs)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Shake it all up well and then fill the rest of the jar with good quality olive oil. Shake well again and take your pinky finger (well washed), stick it in the jar and taste. Adjust seasonings, oil or lemon juice as needed.

Practice making it frequently.

As a variation, try balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice. Balsamic vinegar is the only ingredient that I don't insist on being top of the line. The really expensive stuff can be upwards of $40 a bottle. No need to go so far!

If you think all this sounds horribly fattening, think of the alternative: a chemical feast.

You don't have to drown your salad in dressing. The dressing is just meant to "dress up" all the wonderful veggies.

Enjoy!