Homemade Dressing Rocks!

Hi, Izzy here. Most of my fellow foodies out there would have to agree, that although making homemade dressing takes a little bit of time and energy, it is well worth the effort! I like to help my mom whisk up homemade dressings for my vegetables. I like to eat vegetables in several different forms: raw, steamed, mashed, sauteed, as a salad, grilled, etc. The common denominator, regardless of how the vegetables are prepared, is that I love to have fresh dressing with my vegetables. Sometimes I drizzle the fresh dressing over my vegetables. Other times I like to dip my veggies into a bowl of freshly made dressing. Here is a link to an easy recipe for GINGER, ORANGE DRESSING. As a rule of thumb, I usually use a 2 to 1 ratio. I use 2 parts vinegar, to 1 part olive oil. I think the key to great dressing, is to use good quality ingredients. I like to use fresh herbs, alliums, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, good grainy mustard (to get a good emulsification in my dressing), great quality vinegar and olive oil, and usually fresh citrus juice and zest in my dressings. You can mix it up though and use whatever you have on hand. My mom does all the dicing (I don't use real knives yet, since I'm only two). I use a large bowl and I whisk all of the ingredients together for a few minutes. Then my mom hands me the sieve or strainer and I strain the dressing. Sometimes we opt to keep the chunks in the dressing and we avoid this step. Other times, I do prefer to strain the dressing through a sieve for a smoother texture. We transfer the dressing to a cute airtight dressing jar and then we serve it alongside vegetables. We usually store our dressing in the airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week. Well, it usually doesn't even last that long, because we eat it all up! I hope I have encouraged you to be bold with making homemade dressings at home. Sure, it's easier to use a store bought dressing. It's more fun though, to get creative and to use bold, fresh flavors with every snack or meal.

Here's a quick tip to my fellow toddlers out there: When you are shopping in the grocery store, help your caretaker find a few fresh dressing ingredients and encourage him or her to keep them on hand in the refrigerator. For instance, a chunk of ginger, a few sprigs of thyme, a shallot and an organic orange, will last for a couple weeks in your refrigerator. If a good quality olive oil or vinegar goes on sale at the store, pick an extra bottle up for your pantry. You and your caretaker will be more inclined to make fresh dressings if you already have the ingredients on hand. As my grandpa Sergi used to always say, Salute!

HOME
IZZY'S DEMO VIDEOS