I’m getting bored with my salads. On the whole they’re pretty good, I think, but my approach follows a formula: good leaves, a seasonal accent or two, an olive oil vinaigrette. Actually, the first two variables in the equation seem, well, sufficiently variable. I think the dressing is the problem. I’m in a vinaigrut.
And I don’ think it’s just me. As the quality of readily available salad ingredients has got better and better, the fashion has become (rightly, I think) to let their fresh, subtle flavors take the lead, reducing the dressing to a supporting role. Caesar salads and steakhouses aside, it’s nearly impossible to find anything but a vinaigrette of some kind in a fine restaurant these days. Could we have Roquefort? Green Goddess? I’d love to see the waiter’s reaction . . . .
Still, a supporting role is no excuse for a dull performance. I’ve got to stop just whipping out the vinaigrettes, and find some interesting dressings that still let salad taste like salad. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be looking for new recipes and reinterpreting old ones to round out my salad dressing repertoire.
Here’s the first. This dressing is simple, but delicious. The richness of the cream is lightened and brightened with the lemon juice, and the chives give it just a little bite. The creamy white liquid with deep green flecks also looks great coating salad leaves.
Recipe
(adapted from Creamy Lemon-Chive Dressing in Patricia Wells’ Vegetable Harvest)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup light cream (or half-and-half)
1/3 cup finely minced fresh chives
Instructions
In a small lidded jar, combine the lemon juice and the salt. Cover and shake to dissolve the salt. Add the cream and the chives. Shake again to blend.
The dressing can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator. Shake again before serving.
