Monday, August 6, 2012

Easy Ginger-Sesame Salad Dressing

I like making different salad dressings every day. I mean, why make a vat of dressing and have the same salad day after day? And while there's nothing wrong with mixing extra and stashing it in the refrigerator while you use it up, why waste refrigerator space?

I mean, I make extra dressing when we have guests, because I never know how much they'll douse their salad with. Otherwise, I make enough dressing for one or two salads. That way, I can have a different salad every day, even if the greens are the same.

When I found a jar of ginger from Keres Spices in my box of products from Fooducopia, my first thought was baked goods. Gingerbread cookies, pumpkin pie ... but then I looked at the thermometer and the calendar. Nope, baking was out.

Salad dressing was in.

As much as I like fresh ginger, I don't use it very often, so it's not something I have on hand for spur-of-the-moment dressings. Ground ginger is always ready in the cabinet, though. Always. Might as well use it for something besides gingerbread cookies.

I usually use olive oil for salad dressings, but for this dressing, the flavor would be a bit assertive. If you have a "light" olive oil, that would be fine, or any neutral-flavored oil would be fine.

Sesame oil is used for flavoring, and it's pretty strong. A few drops is all you need.

Ginger-Sesame Salad Dressing

1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt
Several grinds white pepper
3 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil
Several drops of sesame oil or toasted sesame oil
Sesame seeds for garnish
Several grinds black pepper for garnish

Put the rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, mustard, sugar, salt, and white pepper in a small jar. Whisk or shake to combine.

Add the oil and sesame oil. Cover the jar and shake until combined. The dressing with thicken and become opaque.

Taste the dressing and add more ginger, if desired, and add more salt, if needed. Shake again.

After you drizzle the dressing over your salad, sprinkle the salad with sesame seeds and grind on some black pepper, if desired.

For more information on Fooducopia, see the tab at the top.
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