Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette - The Simplest and Best Salad Dressing - Recipe

Salad greens with lemon-mustard vinaigrette

I've never understood why people buy salad dressing, when an infinitely more delicious, fresher, healthier homemade vinaigrette is only 30 seconds away.

I make variations of vinaigrette all the time, but today I want to share with you my absolute favorite, the one I return to at least once a week. I use lemon juice instead of vinegar, and a good amount of Dijon mustard. The result is bracing, fresh and citrusy.

The traditional ratio for vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Depending on the intensity of your vinegar, this tends to produce a rather subdued dressing. Especially with lemon juice, I tend to prefer something around a 2:1 ratio. That is what I've specified in the recipe below, but you should always taste it and adjust to your preferences, the salad being dressed, and what you will serve it with.

Meyer lemons will give you an even better flavor than the grocery-store standard Eurekas, and of course you should use a tasty extra-virgin olive oil.

There are two advantages to adding a significant amount of mustard to a vinaigrette. The first is obvious: it tastes good. The second is that it acts as an emulsifier, keeping the oil suspended in the vinegar. When made this way, you can get away with combining all of the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and simply shaking well. It isn't necessary to drizzle in the oil while whisking in the traditional fashion, nor do you need a blender.

Salad dressings need to be highly seasoned with salt. Your salad will be lightly dressed, so if there isn't enough salt to make the straight dressing taste pretty strong, it will be underseasoned when applied to the greens.

You can feel free to add additional flavorings to this dressing. It will happily accept any finely minced fresh or dried herb, garlic, shallots, citrus zest or spices.

One last thought: this dressing is delicious on a big salad with lots of ingredients. But don't forget the joy of a simple salad of only lettuces, especially if they are fresh from the garden. You can grow (or find at a farmer's market) varieties that are far too delicate to be carried in a normal grocery store. The texture and flavor of these greens is incomparable. Treat them right by washing gently, drying thoroughly, and dressing at the very last moment. They will wilt within a very few minutes after meeting their vinaigrette.

Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
Yields 6 tablespoons, enough (probably too much) for a great big salad bowl of greens

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard (e.g. Grey Poupon)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Option 1: combine all ingredients in a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds until emulsified.
   Option 2: Combine the lemon juice, mustard and salt in a bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuosly.
2. Taste and adjust the salt, and add more lemon juice or olive oil to achieve a pleasing balance of acidity.

Goat Cheese, Asparagus and Beet Salad with Herb Flowers - Recipe

Salad of goat cheese, asparagus and beet

I've been inspired by Linda's use of edible flowers, and I realized that I have both chive and rosemary blossoms in my garden right now. The chive flowers are those purple puffballs, with an oniony flavor similar to the familiar herb. The rosemary petals are much smaller, and lighter purple but if you look closely there is one on the frontmost stalk of asparagus.

I've also been wanting to play with very thinly sliced vegetables. Thin slices create a textural surprise, allowing you to experience a familiar ingredient in a different way. Last year I made a salad with raw white asparagus shaved with a vegetable peeler. For today's version used my inexpensive Benriner mandoline.

I recently bought this kevlar glove from Microplane which makes the mandoline a lot safer to use. I don't think I could have done the asparagus so nicely without it. If you don't have those tools, you could certainly make the same dish with a sharp knife, you probably just wouldn't be able to get such even slices. But it would still look and taste delicious.

Goat cheese seemed a natural to pair with the asparagus and beets. If you have a very special chevre, you might want to leave it unmanipulated. This one was good, but I opted to roll it in toasted sesame and fennel seeds for a little additional interest.

Time permitting, I would have liked to serve a bit of a very rich, lemony hollandaise, but for today I added lemon zest and juice to storebought mayonnaise to make the sauce, along with a few drops of good balsamic.

Goat Cheese, Asparagus and Beet Salad
Serves 4
Vegetarian and gluten-free; not vegan

• 2 medium golden beets
• 4 thick spears of asparagus, very thinly sliced (see note above)
• 4 ounces goat cheese (chevre), rolled into 4 balls and allowed to warm up to room temperature
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon toasted fennel seeds
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• very finely cut zest of 1/2 lemon
• 8 chive blossoms
• 1 tablespoon minced chive
• 12 rosemary blossoms
• flaky sea salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• aceto balsamico

1. Boil the beets in salted water until tender. Remove with Cool in cold water. Peel. Slice to the same thickness as the asparagus. Optionally, use a circle cutter to make 12 uniform pieces.
2. In the same pot of water, boil the sliced asparagus for two minutes. Drop into ice water to retain the green color.
3. Roll the balls of goat cheese in a mixture of the sesame and fennel seeds.
4. Combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice and lemon zest with a pinch of salt and whisk until smooth. Adjust consistency until thin enough to drizzle.
5. To serve, place 3 slices of beet and 3 slices of asparagus on each plate. Brush the vegetables with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Drizzle the lemon sauce and add a few drops of balsamic vinegar (use a medicine dropper or the tip of a chopstick). Add one goat cheese ball to each plate. Garnish with the chive, chive blossoms, rosemary flowers and a few flakes of salt.

Golden Beet Tartare (Ok, Really, Diced Beet Salad) - Recipe

Wait! Wait! If you think you hate beets, don't surf away yet.

I love beets. I would eat them on a boat, I would eat them with a goat. I would eat them in the rain, or in the dark or on a train.

If your only experience is with canned beets, you haven't really ever had beets. I can't tell you how many people I've converted to shameless beet-loving over the years. I'm a certified beet evangelist. (Which makes it legal for me to marry root vegetables in most states).

Of course today's dish is really a beet salad, but using some of the complementary flavors often associated with beef tartare. The visual resemblance would be stronger with red beets, but I'm not really trying to mimic a meat dish here, just riffing off of it. I didn't think it needed a raw egg on top, but I did put rosemary mayo on the toast for a little fattiness. Sieved hardboiled egg would be nice too. I didn't add anything acidic, but if you want a little citrus juice in there it is ok with me.

You could serve this as an appetizer, or as a side salad with a grilled entree.

Golden Beet Tartare (aka. Finely Diced Beet Salad)
Vegetarian, vegan if you omit mayo or use a vegan mayo, gluten free if you omit the toast
Serves 4

• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 2 large golden beets (enough to yield 1.5 c. diced)
• 1/4 cup peeled, seeded and finely cucumber
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• flaky salt (Maldon!)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• black pepper
• 4 pieces of thin, toasted or grilled bread cut as you see fit

1. Combine the mayo, rosemary and a couple pinches of salt. Do this first so the flavor of the herb has time to develop.
2. Boil the beets whole, in salted water, until tender. Remove the peels and then finely dice until you have 1.5 cups of dice. They should be no larger than 1/8". The easiest way to do this is slice off all 6 sides until you have a cube, then cut first into uniform slices, then batons (sticks), then dice. You'll have some extra stuff you can snack on or save for another purpose. If you take your time and do a nice dice, this dish would look really good.
3. Combine the beets, cucumber, onion, capers, olive oil and a teaspoon of salt. Taste and adjust seasoning.
4. To plate, arrange a mound of beets on each of 4 plates, or use a ring mold. Top with the chives, black pepper, and a few more flakes of salt.
5. Spread the rosemary mayo on the toast and serve.