A Little (Summer) Lightness In (Yet Again) Heavy Times: 3 Yummy Salad Dressings To Know Cold

During one of those everything-bleeds-into-nothingness stretches of time during 2020-22, I discovered the Hot Sheets cookbook of a former (Russian-Am) WaPo food writer and a French-Japanese (-Am)  (by way of Argentina & Australia) Phaidon/M.S. food (& more) writer. My kind of cross-cultural collaboration!

With a 90-year old mother I kind of (co-)care for (tku, sis) from afar (quite literally, if it weren't for SunBasket and NutrEval -guided supplementation, she would have been in A.L. long ago), I'm always on the lookout for nutrient-dense, "eat the rainbow," 1/2 for you 1/2 for your "gut buddies" recipes that are both delicious & easy to prep and/or to clean up from. (Though she'll groan about "long" ingredient lists (i.e. anything >4) and just about any prep work, recently she has admirably risen to the occasion, envisioning the imminent pay-off, I'm imagining. (I suspect the Methyl-Guard Plus & 5,000 IU daily of vitamin D with K2 also help.) More than a couple of items to wash/scrub afterward? Immediate deal-breaker. If it weren't for that damn beta blocker, I'm sure she'd have more energy (& fewer chills). But, especially in elder care, one has to triage one's battles...)

Outside of NY, NJ, RI you can actually order a NutrEval yourself ($439), and Medicare is more & more often covering all or part of it. Pretty much all phlebotomy places these days will do the blood draw, assembly (requires first a.m. urine from home, chilled) & shipping, for a $20-35 (cash) fee: LabCorp, Access Medical Labs, AnyLabTest Now, others. (My NY/NJ folks find a PA or CT friend, relative, workplace.)

When she eats well, she sleeps well (link). When she sleeps well, she has fewer cravings for sweet things (link). Fewer glucose-insulin surges & dips (link). Quality sleep correlates with better hormone balance (link). When she eats well, she detoxes (all those superfluous medicines) better. Amino acids, among other things, are necessary for Phase II liver detoxification (link). When she eats more (esp. fats, protein), she maintains her weight. Lean body mass in itself is a predictor of longevity (link). She has more clarity & energy. Everybody wins, including PSB Holdings. But they've earned it.

While the book kind of disappointed overall (the vast majority of recipes call for Panko or other bread crumbs, bread, AP flour, puff pastry sheets, ramen, pita, pasta or crackers, although I did save the granola recipes & 1-2 others (okay, 5)-- and will paste them in at the end, little by little), what I loved the most was the "all occasion" salad they suggested to serve with just about any and all of the (mostly sheet pan) dinners: 4 cups arugula with only EVOO, lemon zest, lemon juice (1/2 lemon), shaved Parmesan and flakey sea salt. Maybe touch of freshly ground pepper. To quote another kitchen diva, "How easy is that?"

Plus, I don't think anyone can ever get enough arugula (or chard or mustard greens or collards, or (mostly sautéed or in soup) kale for that matter, or slaws!)-- but preferably grown outdoors as opposed to a hothouse, and at least every now and then the full deal-- not just the jeunes pousses, as the bi- or tri-lingual box I try so hard not to buy informs me.

So maybe that's why, as we waited hostage-like in the only cool room in the house to see if anyone still had any honor left at 7th Street NW last week, this filing from a delightful SoCal-Iranian cookbook writer in our local paper jumped out at me as quite possibly exactly what the world needs now: a sherry-shallot vinaigrette (aka your soon to be "house" dressing, via Via Carota), a creamy miso lemon (with or without poppy seeds), and (another creamy) ginger-sesame miso, geared toward your next slaw (or chicken salad).

So let's dig in.

(All of these salad dressings can be kept in fridge covered for up to 1 week.)

#1 sherry-shallot house (VC)

The only thing possibly new here (other then the rinsing, draining, "let sit" bits with the shallots & vin-H2O mix) is the combining of Dijon & whole-grain mustard. Okay, and the thyme. I personally prefer maple syrup to honey in my vinaigrette, but might opt for honey were lemon juice an ingredient. I will see what the Comments section folks had to say.

• 1 large shallot, ("very") finely diced*

• 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp aged sherry vinegar, plus more as needed

• 1 Tbsp warm water

  
  

• 1 cup EVOO

• 1½ tsp honey

• 1½ tsp Dijon mustard

• 1½ tsp whole-grain mustard

• 2 thyme sprigs, washed leaves picked and finely chopped (about ½ tsp)

• 1 garlic clove, finely grated

• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed

• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

*Place the shallot in a fine-mesh sieve and quickly rinse with cold water. Allow to drain, then place in a medium bowl. Add vinegar and warm water, and let the shallot mixture sit for 2 minutes

Gem of a gem (with sherry-shallot vinaigrette)

#2 lemon miso

• ¼ cup aquafaba (the liquid from (BPA-free) canned (or jarred if you can find them: CG, LGC, DO, LBdN, Despaña) beans, chickpea liquid being the standard)

• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

• 4 Tbsp ACV, divided, plus more as needed

• ¾ cup sunflower oil

• ¼ cup sugar

• 2 packed tsp finely grated lemon zest

• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed

• 3 Tbsp white miso

• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 1 tsp onion powder

• ¼ tsp celery seeds

• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed

• 2 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional), lightly toasted

In a liquid measuring cup or wide-mouth jar, combine the aquafaba, mustard and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar. With an immersion blender running on high speed, drizzle the oil in a thin stream to blend and make the aquafaba “mayonnaise.”

In another wide-mouth jar, blend together the remaining 3 tablespoons vinegar and the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, miso, garlic, onion powder, celery seeds and salt until smooth. Return the blender to the aquafaba mayonnaise, and with the blender running at high speed, drizzle in the lemon-miso mixture. Stir in the poppy seeds, if desired. Taste and adjust with salt, vinegar and lemon juice as needed.

Great for: green salad, grain salad, roasted vegetables, composed summer salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado chunks, drizzling over roasted vegetables, in potato salad.

#3 ginger-sesame (-miso)

• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed

• ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar, plus more as needed

• 5 Tbsp white miso

• 2 Tbsp honey

• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

• 1 fresh jalapeño (or other), stemmed (seeded if desired) and sliced

• ½ cup neutral oil

• Kosher salt

In a liquid measuring cup or wide-mouth jar, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, miso, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and jalapeño, and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. With the immersion blender running, add the neutral oil in a thin stream. (Alternatively, you can use a countertop blender.) Taste and adjust with salt, lemon juice and vinegar as needed.

Great for: cabbage slaw or chicken salad, romaine salad, just-boiled green beans, even rice or noodle bowls. And not at all shabby condiment for chicken, fish, tofu.

Addendum (in the works)

1. Granola with lots of nuts & seeds, coconut oil, dried tart cherries

2. Granola with puffed (brown) rice, oats, seeds & nuts, flaked coconut, pistachios, figs

3. Granola bars, with pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut oil, oats, flaxseeds, crystallized ginger

4. Mint cream

5. (GF) brownies/lava cakes with mint cream (3 ways: cassava, brown rice, black bean)

6. Blackberry lemon clafoutis

7. Fennel citrus salad

8. Oven paella

9. Feta-stuffed zucchini with dill, mint & pine nuts