basic salad dressing

With all of the wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits available now, salads are a great addition to any meal! My family loves salads at this time of year made with all kinds of garden vegetables. I have a basic dressing recipe that I found in an old cookbook a number of years ago and I adapt it for a number of differnent vegetable salads and even pasta.












Basic Salad Dressing





1/3 c. cider vinegar (white vinegar doesn't have the flavor that cider does for this recipe)


2/3 c. salad oil( I use canola oil-- heart healthy and has a good flavor for this recipe)


1 tsp. salt


1 tsp. sugar


Add any of the following to suit your own taste and to compliment the vegetables you are using:


garlic-- powder, salt or minced


onion - powder, salt or minced ( I keep minced onion on hand to add flavor when I don't have time to cut them fresh)


season salt


pepper


lemon pepper


Italian seasoning


paprika


dill


celery- dried


Hot sauce ( my daughter, Maria's favorite addition!!)


Parmesan or Romano cheese





You can adjust the seasonings to match the basic vegebles of your salad. With lettuce and/or tomatoes, I add a bit more Italian seasonings like oregano and basil. For potato salad or green bean salad, I make sure to add dill. It is a great compliment to them!!! This is even a great dressing for Pasta salad---- pasta and lots of fresh garden vegetables make for a nutritious, healthy addtion to any meal!!! Try this dressing and come up with your own family favorite combinations of seasonings!!