Pages

Friday, January 27, 2012

Whole Foods Friday: Splash Salad Dressing

Wandering up and down the grocery aisles at Whole Foods, I ran across an interesting product called Pomegranate Splash. Interesting as in, "I have no idea what this stuff is going to taste like or what I'm going to do with it."

All of the varieties I saw were based on pomegranate juice, but the varieties had names like Plum Sake and Blueberry Merlot. Very interesting!

I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but I knew I could find some way to work it into a recipe.

So I brought one home and gave it a taste. A little sweet, a little fruity. So many possibilities. It would make a nice glaze on chicken or pork, and it would be wonderful drizzled over fruit or added to sparkling water or lemonaid for a refreshing drink.

The other thing I picked up was a small bag of Meyer lemons. If you're not familiar with them, Meyer lemons are (allegedly) a cross between a standard lemon and either an orange or a tangerine. Whatever they are, they're pretty good. They're still a lemon, but a little less tart and with some extra flavor.

Meyer lemons have a pretty thin skin, and the ones I got were very, very juicy. A little lemon gave up a lot of juice.

I decided to combine the two into one dish. After mumbling a bit, I decided to make a salad dressing. And gee, I also had some of the bulk olive oil from the big, fancy bulk section.

Perfect. Salad dressing doesn't need much more than an acid like vineagar - or in this case, lemon juice - and oil

If the dressing is too tart, a little sugar or honey can cut the sweetness. Herbs are nice. But really, if the oil and the acid are flavorful, you don't need a lot more.

Salad dressing is all about a ratio, and if you know that ratio you can make as much or as little dressing as you like.

The standard ratio I use is 1 part acid to two parts oil. Some people use as much as 3 parts oil to the 2 parts of acid. I suggest you start with the lesser amount, and add more, to taste.

Meyer Lemon and Splash Salad

1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Pomegranate Splash
Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake to combine and emulsify the dressing. Drizzle over your salad.

I made a very simple salad with Romaine lettuce, hearts of palm, and strips of roasted red peppers, but this dressing would work for any green salad you like.

For more info on Whole Foods Friday, see the tab at the top of this page.