Cooking

The role of the vinaigrette on salads

I must confess that when I was young, my salads were always very boring. The typical lettuce and tomato salad with olive oil and salt, and maybe a little vinegar. Nothing wrong with that, but since I find myself immersed in the wonderful world of Love my Salad, I not only want to create new  and delicious salads, but share with you the one of key components of the perfect salad: The vinaigrette.

The vinaigrette is perfect for our salad dressing. It is a combination of an acid (usually vinegar, although it can also be citrus: lemon, lime, orange, ... ) with a fat (generally olive oil for that matter, but it can also be yogurt, sour cream - cut with acid lemon or vinegar - ...)

The most common vinaigrette is made by mixing about three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with vinegar, a little salt and stir with a whisk to emulsify and create a dense mix.

But there are endless possibilities! We can use different types of vinegars (balsamic vinegar of Modena, sherry vinegar, wine vinegar, apple ...) and different oil varieties (Picual, Arbequina ... ) depending on whether you want a taste more or less intense. We can combine the vinaigrette with honey or even with other sauces like mayonnaise, or much better, with mustard. I love mustard vinaigrettes :)

Vinaigrettes do well with all kinds of nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, peeled sunflower seeds... ) or even with fruit soaked in their own vinaigrette (raspberry, peach, apple, watermelon, cantaloupe, cherries ....).

And speaking of combinations .. we can also flavour vinaigrettes leaving our marinate in the oil bottle with different herbs (basil salad is my favourite), garlic, and even chillies if you like it spicy.

A very famous vinaigrette here in Spain is one made with chopped green and red capsicums (sweet peppers), onion and garlic. We can also add capers, gherkins and egg.

So there is your challenge. I encourage you to try and experience wonderful combinations in your vinaigrettes (with different fruits, nuts, vinegars and oils... ) and help our salad go from good to BUENISIMAS :)