We eat a lot of salads in our house, especially in the summer when the garden is growing a multitude of fresh veggies. Our favorite salad dressing is Italian. We always used to buy Wishbone House salad dressing, but we really went through it because we not only used it on salads, we also liked it on sliced vegetables and as a marinade for meats that we cooked on the grill. I was buying two bottles every time we went shopping!
I found myself mentioning it to a friend of mine who also loves salad and grilling. She said she made her own mix for salad dressing and marinades. She said it was much cheaper, especially since she had a herb garden which provided her with many of the needed ingredients. I had to laugh, I could not believe it never occurred to me to make my own, which is really silly since I make so much other stuff from scratch instead of buying it.
I asked her for the recipe and she texted it over. I lucked out because I actually had all the ingredients, so I didn't even have to go to the store. She had split the ingredients in half, dry ingredients and wet ingredients. I asked her the reason for this in a later conversation, and she told me that she makes the dry mix to give away as gifts at Christmas time. She said that people loved it because it was so easy to make, and it saved them money too!
Ingredients:
3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/8 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (omit if you don't like spice)
1/8 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon basil
Wet Ingredients:
1/8 cup of finely grated bell pepper
1/8 cup of finely grated carrot
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of water
1/2 cup of olive oil (can use any oil you like)
All you have to do is mix the ingredients and shake well for two minutes. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
This dressing is not only good on salads and meats, it's great drizzled over hot vegetables. Toss it over noodles and with grated cheese for a great side dish. It is so versatile once you make some you will not want to be without it. I usually keep a jar of the dry ingredients mix in my cupboard to season soups and casseroles. It really is almost like an all purpose seasoning.
If you want to make this mixture and give it away as a jar gift, simply fill a decorative jar with the dry ingredients only and shake thoroughly. Tie a pretty card to the jar that lists the wet ingredients to mix with the dry. That's all there is to it. An easy and thoughtful gift that almost anyone will love.
I have told my friend what a blessing her recipe has been to me and all the things I make with it. I have even given her some ideas! I highly recommend you try it, I think you will love it too.
Tracey, what a great idea and recipe. We sometimes make our own dressing with the same ingredients as you have, except the grated bell pepper and carrots. I never gave that a thought, so I'll be adding those the next time we make it. Thanks, and thank your friend for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI think the veggies make the dressing more flavorful, but It also makes it spoil faster in the refrigerator. Leave it out and this dressing is good for at least a month. With this in mind, you can add or not add the peppers and carrots depending on the situation
DeleteA good homemade salad dressing recipe is a blessing, indeed! Thanks so much for sharing it.
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ReplyDeleteAnd it certainly is much less expensive that store bought!
DeleteI love this homemade salad dressing recipe!! Thankyou so much for sharing, I am certainly going to try making it. Also what a great gift idea!
ReplyDeleteOh this does sound really good. I will show it to the husband/cook and I'm sure he will start to use this mix as well. I love summer salads and flavorful food too! thanks!
ReplyDeleteA very nice easy recipe - sounds excellent - I could actually go for this right now!
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing your homemade Italian Salad Dressing mix with all of us. So often, we become dependent on store-bought bottled or packaged items that we forget (or never had the recipe) that we could make them ourselves much cheaper at home. I love it!
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