Sunday, February 22, 2009

Necessity is the mother of invention

At least that's what I hear Frank Zappa always said.

We're being sort of healthy here tonight and having a big salad with tuna on it. When we eat this, I like French dressing on it. Wouldn't you know it, I had no French dressing downstairs in the pantry! Professor Precise Arrow leapt into action and quickly found a recipe for homemade dressing online.

French Salad Dressing

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I used peanut oil)
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup, because most people commented that it was a little overly sweet)
1/2 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
1 small onion, chopped (Mellow Beth didn't feel like chopping, so she used 1 tsp onion powder)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt (I omitted this...jeez, how much salt does ketchup have in it??)

Blend in food processor or blender.

My whisk and a little elbow grease worked just fine, and I have to say, this is some mighty tasty stuff! Ken liked it, too. As I whisked it together, it got nice and thick, and it's chillin' in the fridge. I've always meant to make some French dressing from scratch, and I'm glad I was forced into it tonight. I think I just might have to start making more dressing from scratch, because the flavor is very good.

12 comments:

  1. One of my favorite salad dressings is homemade Red Wine vinegar and oil dressing. I add rosemary, a bit of sugar, a shake of salt, and fresh ground pepper. I think the oil/vinegar ratio is 3/1, but I like more vinegar taste. There's nothing better than "Fresh"!

    :) Leigh

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  2. I notice you didn't use mustard, but I liked your recipe, and i'll use it.
    French dressing:
    1 teaspoon of dried mustard or any other kind from a jar.
    2-3 dessert spoons vinegar,
    2 cups olive
    salt and pepper

    But you can add to it, in Europe we wouldn't add ketchup, unless it was for Marie Rose sauce which is traditionally served with Prawns/Shrimp

    Yasmin

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  3. Hi Beth,
    Hmmm ... I think it would be a cold day in Hell before I attempted to make my own salad dressing. I can barely make a salad ... the dressing would throw me over the edge ...
    Best,
    Marty

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  4. Don't ya just love it when you do something clever? I do, well, at least I used to back when I actually did the occasional clever thing!

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  5. I make that exact dressing (minus the lemon juice) for my spinach salad. I cut the recipe off of the bag of fresh spinach many MANY years ago. Love it! One of my favorite things to do is is create new salad dressings. I'm sure your salad was yummy!

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  6. alright this has nothing to do with dressing....

    i so can't believe you are almost 10 years older then me!!!!!!! i so thought you were my age!!!!!

    rawwwwkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk on!!!

    \m/xxalainaxx\m/

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  7. With those boots on, you can do anything!!

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  8. You go girl! Wow, making your own dressing...cool. I printed it out to make in the near future. Thanks

    Hugs, Rose

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  9. Well, how old is alania? I have thought she was in her mid 20's ...

    This reply also has nothing to do with salad dressing. I will prolly start worrying about that kind of stuff when I am on my own once again.

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  10. I did the same thing for Italian Dressing the other night. It seems with the cold weather salad dressings are not stocked in the refrigerator as per usual. (Hugs)Indigo

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  11. Mom always made a sweet Italian dressing....I love it. It's my first choice over any bottled stuff! I like French a lot too, so may have to come back and reference yours.....Thanks for sharing

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I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?