salad dressing Archives - The Midnight Baker

Mrs. Miller’s Dressing/Marinade

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 23:00:08 +0000

Mrs. Miller’s dressing/marinade is an all-purpose salad dressing and marinade.

All-Purpose Salad Dressing And Marinade

First let me say that Mrs. Miller was a real person. She was my good friend’s mom and an excellent cook.

A couple of years ago I planned to grill a flank steak for me and my friend. She told me to use her mom’s dressing recipe to marinate the steak and I did. The steak was delicious! Unlike many marinades, this all-purpose salad dressing and marinade is also a great dressing for salads. It will go well with green salads as well as fruit salads. You can’t get more versatile than that.

Dress It Up

Made as it is, this dressing is excellent. However, it can be flavored in many different ways.

Curiously, it contains no garlic, but it’d be a great addition here. Make it as strong or as mild as you like. Personally, I’d use fresh garlic but garlic powder would be good if you have no fresh.

Like a bit of heat? A few drops of hot sauce or better yet, Sriracha, would be fantastic. You can get heat too if you add a bit of cayenne or use hot paprika. And speaking of paprika, try it with smoked paprika.

Oils & Vinegars

I tend to use olive oil for most things. A nice fruity oil gives this dressing a great flavor. Any good vegetable oil will do well, so use what you like.

This calls for red wine vinegar, but white wine vinegar would be a great choice as well as champaign vinegar. If you want to use this for a sweet fruit salad, then apple cider vinegar would be a good choice

The basic recipe is very good, but you can do so much with this dressing to tailor it to any use.

The Recipe

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Mrs. Miller's Salad Dressing/Marinade

Best all-purpose salad dressing & marinade

Prep Time5

Cook Time0

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: American

Keyword: all-purpose dressing and marinade, easy salad dressings

Servings: 8

Calories: 56kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2/3 cup of oil
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix till sugar is blended. Let it sit about an hour for all flavors to mingle, but not necessary

Notes

Serving size calculated as 2 tbs

Nutrition

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Low-Sodium Ranch Seasoning Mix

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 23:00:44 +0000

This ranch seasoning mix is the perfect option for those watching their sodium intake. Just add the optional salt if you’re not.

Ranch Seasoning For Sodium Watchers

If you’re watching your sodium intake either for general health reasons or if medically directed to do so, your choices for store-bought seasonings are very limited.

Here’s a great alternative for you! Now you can enjoy all those “ranch-flavored” recipes you had to bypass because of sodium content!

And the added benefit is you can also use this mix to make a delicious salad dressing.

You Control The Salt

I often find that mixing too many commercial ingredients in a recipe results in the dish tasting overly salty. This is especially true for many crock pot meals where you are mixing condensed soup, gravy mixes and dressing mixes in the same recipe.

Now manufacturers are adding lower-sodium gravy mixes to their line. However, they’re not widely available so your options are limited here. So what I try to do is use salt-free or low-sodium products for the soups and dressings.

But I’d still rather control my own seasonings in things I make, and I’d rather make these soups and mixes myself if at all possible. I might add that my recipe for condensed cream soups are so delicious, I reconstitute them and eat them as soup. That’s something I’d never do with the can.

To my way of thinking, the best option is to mix this ranch seasoning mix up and omit the salt entirely. Remember, you can always add a pinch of salt in the recipe if you need it.

Inspiration!

For a long time, I’ve used Missy’s great recipe on Graceful Little Honeybee. Then I tried Brandi’s from The Country Cook. What I did was combine the best elements of each of these fantastic recipes to make one that suited my taste.

One thing I don’t do anymore is use the buttermilk powder. Since I never use the whole can, there’s always some left. It turns hard as a rock and even using a mortar and pestle to break it up is labor intensive and doesn’t work that well. I’ve taken to using plain old non-fat dry milk in place of the buttermilk powder as that does not get rock hard.

The Recipe

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Low-Sodium Ranch Seasoning Mix

This ranch seasoning mix is the perfect option for those watching their sodium intake. Just add the optional salt if you’re not.

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Course: condiments, Dips/Sauces/Dressings

Cuisine: American

Keyword: low sodium seasoning, ranch, ranch dressing, ranch seasoning mix

Servings: 1 .5 cups

Calories: 737kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup dehydrated minced onions
1/2 cup parsley
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
3 tsp chives
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp pepper
2-3 tsp salt optional
all herbs are the dry kind--from the jar

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together and store in an air-tight container out of direct light.3 tablespoons of this mix equals 1 envelope of commercial dressing mix.
To make as a dressing, mix 1 tbs of seasoning mix with 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1/4 cup milk or buttermilk.

Nutrition

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Chipotle Scallion Dressing/Dip

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 24 May 2016 23:00:21 +0000

This boldly flavored chipotle and scallion dressing is so versatile, you can use it as a salad dressing, a dip or even a sandwich spread!

This dressing runs a close second to my Comeback Sauce for versatility.

It’s got such a fine flavor where all the ingredients meld together for a very unique taste.

This recipe originally came from an old Food Network magazine. I made it way back when and was very impressed with the taste.

The original had far to much cilantro for my taste. I’m really not a fan of this herb and if I use it, it must only have a faint flavor. If cilantro is the dominant flavor in anything, I find it tastes like soap. And curiously, I read a few years ago that people who are of “Nordic” complexion are the ones who find the taste of cilantro “soapy.” It had something to do with a gene particular to fair-skinned, blond and blue/grey eyed people. Not everyone with this complexion has that gene either. I found this very interesting and it explained why I don’t like the taste of that herb.

That said, a small amount of cilantro blended with other flavors so it enhances rather than flavors is the way I go. What I usually do is cut the called-for amount in half. That seems to work for me. However, if you’re a big fan of cilantro, load it on!!!

Another adjustment I made was to up the chipotle as I love this flavor. I also used more scallions/green onions. With the chipotle, make sure you diced it really small and then use the blade of the knife to mash it–that really releases it’s great smoky flavor.

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Chipotle Scallion Dressing/Dip

This boldly flavored chipotle and scallion dressing is so versatile, you can use it as a salad dressing, a dip or even a sandwich spread!

Prep Time10

Total Time10

Course: Dips/Sauces/Dressings

Cuisine: American

Keyword: CHIPOTLE, dip recipe, scallion

Servings: 1 cup

Calories: 1574kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions green onions
2 tbsp cilantro
1 large chipotle packed in adobo, finely diced and mashed
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Cover and chill for about 1 hour.

Nutrition

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Seriously Garlicky Salad Dressing

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 23:00:00 +0000

Seriously Garlicky Salad Dressing

A garlic lover’s salad dressing! May also be used as a dip for veggies or chips.

This creamy and tasty salad dressing is guaranteed to keep those pesky vampires away!

There’s a big burst of garlic flavor here because of the amount. I love garlic so this is like heaven for me. But if you’d prefer it more subtle, then half the amount of garlic will still produce a tasty dressing.

This’ll keep away those vampires!

I made this so it had a bit of a kick from the red pepper flakes, but again, if you aren’t into that, then they can be left out completely or a teeny pinch may be used.

In fact, for even more full-bodied flavor, omit the pepper flakes and use a drop or two of a chipotle flavored hot sauce. Betcha that’d taste out of this world!

Can be thinned with additional buttermilk

This can also be used as a dip for vegetables or chips as the dressing is a bit thick. If you want a pourable dressing, just add more buttermilk until you reach the consistency you want.

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Seriously Garlicky Salad Dressing

A garlic lover’s salad dressing! May also be used as a dip for veggies or chips.

Prep Time10

Total Time10

Course: Dips, dressings, sauces

Cuisine: American

Keyword: salad dressing

Servings: 6

Calories: 177kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 huge cloves garlic or 6 medium
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp buttermilk
1 tbsp romano or parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes you can use less or omit

Instructions

Press garlic through a press -OR- pulverize in a powerful blender/food processor (i.e. Ninja).
Mix pressed garlic and all other ingredients in a small bowl; chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
If dressing is too thick for your liking, it may be thinned with additional buttermilk or regular milk to desired consistency.

Nutrition

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Best Bleu Cheese Dressing

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 23:00:00 +0000

Best Bleu Cheese Dressing

The secret to this outstanding bleu cheese dressing is grating the cheese!

If you love bleu cheese dressing as much as I do, you’ll flip for this one and never ever buy it again!

The secret to this is actually grating the cheese so you get few, if any, chunks of cheese. That tip I picked up from Chef John of AllRecipes.

Reduce the buttermilk and it’s a dip!

This way, the cheese just melts into the dressing so every drop is bursting with the flavor of the cheese. The chunks of cheese in most dressings just sink to the bottom anyway.

I didn’t freeze and grate–I used my Ninja to process the cheese and it worked like a charm. Then I just added everything else and pulsed a few times. Not only is this delish, but it’s pretty easy too.

It’s also necessary to let this dressing chill in the fridge for about 24 hours so the tastes blend and infuse. It won’t taste as good if you use it freshly made. Patience is a virtue that is well rewarded here.

Omitting or halving the buttermilk also makes this a dip or dipping sauce that’s absolutely perfect for Buffalo wings.

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Best Bleu Cheese Dressing

The secret to this outstanding bleu cheese dressing is grating the cheese!

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Dips, dressings, sauces

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Blue Cheese, salad dressing

Servings: 1 cup

Calories: 1453kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup + 2 tbs buttermilk
2 large cloves garlic finely minced
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice*
4 oz grated bleu cheese**

Instructions

*White or white wine vinegar may be substituted
**You can partially freeze the wedge of cheese and grate -OR- crumble it and process it in a Ninja or other powerful food processor
Place all ingredients in a Ninja or food processor and process until almost smooth.
Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Nutrition

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