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467">Hey, I get it. I know you’re complicated. You’d probably also like to make your life a little simpler. Here’s an easy way to start.</p><p id="4cbc" type="7">Make your own Damn Salad Dressing.</p><p id="9081">Good to the Earth. No plastic.</p><p id="c4f3">Good for your body. No xanthan gum, corn syrup, and other crap.</p><p id="e8c3">And best of all? It tastes amazing.</p><h1 id="bb4b">The Complicated Simple Vinaigrette</h1><p id="450e"><i>(Serves 4 people or one salad-starved person)</i></p><p id="3e46">4–5 tablespoons of olive oil</p><p id="b9b7">2 tablespoons of lemon juice* (about ½ lemon), or champagne vinegar</p><p id="137c">½ tsp sugar ( or to your taste BUT I find it has a job here.)</p><p id="0dcd">1 tsp Dijon mustard</p><p id="6e12">Salt and pepper to taste</p><p id="b0d3">Whisk thoroughly. Taste it.</p><p id="e1c0">*If you use lemon juice which I do A LOT — use the zest of the lemon half & the juice too.</p><p id="d76b"><i>Really want to take this up a notch? Double the batch, put it into a clean jar you’ve got kicking around and put it in the fridge. It will easily last a week or more. Just give it a good shake before you use it.</i></p><p id="a488">So there.</p><p id="5668"><i>Thanks for reading! I have loads of food essays (delicious recipes too) and thoughtful and quirky simpler living essays waiting for you. (Well over 100 of them!) And <a href="https://psiloveyou.xyz/true-love-doesnt-need-flowers-chocolate-or-a-valentine-s-card-b9a291ef4c26?source=friends_link&amp;sk=078a26f01044be800f0f356e2bf97147">this story</a> caught the attention of NBC News in New York!</i></p><div id="0f22" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/ugly-but-good-40b8b63978f9"> <div> <div> <h2>Ugly But Good</h2> <div><h3>Don’t miss out on delicious food just because of its strange looks.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*TA7WYO0V8ws3A964fTg6PQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="5b25" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-to-grow-a-windowsill-garden-from-kitchen-vegetable-scraps-36f57e7649c5"> <div> <div> <h2>How To Grow a Windowsill Garden From Kitchen Vegetable Scraps</h2> <div><h3>You hit pay dirt when you regrow what’s in your fridge.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*T_EPp_5fHO8qNroQCG7Rsw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="fac1" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/what-i-learned-from-a-year-of-living-within-my-means-9a72ab0141a7"> <div> <div> <h2>What I Learned From a Year of Living Within My Means</h2> <div><h3>Saving money is joyful when you have a goal. Paris, perhaps?</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*MrWaQnVnzFl7Sadf3U5xIQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="ec0c" class="link-block"> <a href="https://psiloveyou.xyz/how-to-calm-yourself-with-collage-479026300f12"> <div> <div> <h2>How to Calm Yourself with Collage</h2> <div><h3>The quirkiness of cutting and pasting helps glue your happy thoughts together.</h3></div> <div><p>psiloveyou.xyz</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*lwMHZofPJRu8ZV-FLJPaFw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="442a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-subtle-pleasant-power-of-peasant-food-f47e4687f67a"> <div> <div> <h2>The Subtle & Pleasant Power of Peasant Food</h2> <div><h3>And a weird casserole recipe you should make tonight.</h3></div> <div><p

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Photo by Mike Kenneally on Unsplash

Soul-Saving Salad Dressing

A simple homemade salad dressing so you stop buying the sad bottled stuff.

I grew up in a little town on the Canadian prairies.

What does that mean?

Well, I ate wonderful home-cooked food; I could stand in our huge garden and eat fresh-picked peas and carrots; I had the freedom to ride my bike out in the country, and read books in trees and play in the woods without fear.

And no.

My name isn’t Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie.

My mom would yell to my sister and me,

“Make sure you’re home for supper once it starts to get dark.”

As a kid, I took it all for granted of course.

But along with all that wonderful food, I also ate a lifetime’s share of store-bought, bottled salad dressing.

Insert SCREECHY horror music in your mind.

An assortment of nasty plastic bottle salad dressings made by Kraft. Thousand Island, Ranch, French Vinaigrette — my mom bought them all.

It may be why I hated salad so much. I hated salad with store-bought salad dressing.

My mom did make 3 different salads I loved. All of them had homemade dressing. (There’s a clue!)

I couldn’t get enough of her potato salad, spring lettuce salad, and her summer lettuce salad. Not a drop of crappy Kraft Thousand Island dressing landed on them.

Whew. I was grateful.

During my 20s, I avoided salad unless it was a homemade Caesar salad at my favorite tiny local restaurant. Holy garlic, fresh parmesan and WTF — homemade croutons??

But at home, alone, I never ventured into the world of salad dressing.

I turned 30 and moved to a city with an amazing Italian market. Going to that market was an epiphany. Rows and rows of glorious olive oil and every kind of vinegar known to God.

An entire section was devoted to Parmesan cheese. (No nasty smelling fake cheese from Kraft in a shaker bottle in sight.)

I was totally overwhelmed and curious. I thought of mom’s homemade oil and vinegar dressing.

And I made a life-changing decision. Trust me. You will too.

I decided to make my own salad dressing. It’s one of those little simple things that make life better.

I bought olive oil, a few bottles of wine vinegar, and a hunk of parmesan. I came home — made it in 5 minutes and I had enough for a week.

It was like a freaking miracle from the salad gods.

I could eat salad and not lose my soul to corporate crap in a bottle.

And all these years later, I’m still doing it.

(You should see my stockpile of oils and vinegar now!)

Hey, I get it. I know you’re complicated. You’d probably also like to make your life a little simpler. Here’s an easy way to start.

Make your own Damn Salad Dressing.

Good to the Earth. No plastic.

Good for your body. No xanthan gum, corn syrup, and other crap.

And best of all? It tastes amazing.

The Complicated Simple Vinaigrette

(Serves 4 people or one salad-starved person)

4–5 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of lemon juice* (about ½ lemon), or champagne vinegar

½ tsp sugar ( or to your taste BUT I find it has a job here.)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk thoroughly. Taste it.

*If you use lemon juice which I do A LOT — use the zest of the lemon half & the juice too.

Really want to take this up a notch? Double the batch, put it into a clean jar you’ve got kicking around and put it in the fridge. It will easily last a week or more. Just give it a good shake before you use it.

So there.

Thanks for reading! I have loads of food essays (delicious recipes too) and thoughtful and quirky simpler living essays waiting for you. (Well over 100 of them!) And this story caught the attention of NBC News in New York!

Food
Cooking
Lifestyle
Recipe
Health
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