The Best Vinaigrette

The standby in our house when you need dinner in a hurry is "steak and salad". The steak is usually eye fillet for me, and a t-bone for GG, but tonight it was scotch fillet all round.

But for me, it's not about the steak. It's about the salad. Well, more specifically, the salad dressing. No Kraft french for us! My favourite vinaigrette is delicate, yet tasty. And most importantly for a Monday night(well, Tuesday) quick meal, is fast to create... barely longer than opening the bottle of something brought from the shops.

I never measure the ingredients, it's all by eye and taste, but here's an approximation.

 

The Best Vinaigrette

1tbs lemon juice
3tbs olive oil
1 tsp french mustard
1/2 tsp white sugar
salt and pepper

Throw it all into a bowl and whisk until combined. Taste, and add a little more of anything you'd rather (more lemon for tartness, more oil for carry etc).

The beauty of this dressing is its flexibility. Use vinegar (red, white, cider, etc) instead of the lemon for different flavours. Or combine lemon with vinegar for less lemony flavour. Use different mustards to add zing: last night we had seedy mustard, but dijon works beautifully to make it creamier. Honey instead of sugar, but the slightly sweet element is indispensible in my view. And of course, making it yourself, you can add in whatever herbs or flavours you like to make it perfect for whatever you're cooking. Try some mashed up garlic or some freshly ground cumin seeds. I love using seedy mustard and adding a heap of dill and pouring it over warm potatoes for a delicious potato salad.

Happy salad creation!