UPFRONT/EAT
Dressed to Impress
Homemade salad dressings are often cheaper, healthier and more creative than store-bought
CHEF Adé Carrena, owner of Dounou Cuisine in Raleigh, North Carolina, and founder of iLéWA Foods, which creates and sells West African spice blends, shares how to create four delicious and versatile salad dressings. Each easy and quick recipe uses a blender and just five ingredients.
1. Pineapple Ginger
Combine ¼ cup pineapple juice, 3 Tbsp rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp freshly grated gingerroot, 1 Tbsp good olive oil and 1 Tbsp minced fresh mint. Blend ingredients until smooth. Add salt to taste.
2. Cilantro Lime
Combine 2 cups cilantro, 2 garlic cloves, ½ cup lime juice and 1 Tbsp honey. Blend while slowly drizzling in ½ cup canola oil through the gap in the blender cover. Add salt to taste.
3. Sherry Mustard
Combine ⅓ cup Dijon mustard, ½ cup sherry vinegar, ¼ cup diced shallots and ¼ cup date syrup. (Don’t have that on hand? Use raw honey or pure maple syrup instead.) Blend ingredients while slowly drizzling in ¼ cup canola oil. Add salt to taste.
4. Mango Habanero
Combine a diced ripe mango, half a seeded habanero pepper, ½ cup champagne vinegar and ¼ cup honey. Blend while slowly drizzling in ¼ cup olive oil. Add salt to taste. —Vonnie Williams
HOW TO BE SMOOTH
The secret to a creamy dressing? It’s emulsification: using a blender or whisk to combine ingredients like water and oil that typically don’t mix. The trick is to drizzle one into the other slowly while blending. Emulsifiers like mayo or mustard help.