Dressing It Up

We eat a lot of salad. I'd say we probably eat salad 3-4 times per week. Maybe even more sometimes. It's probably the #1 thing I missed while we lived in Russia. Sure, Russians love their salads but I'm talking a nice, leafy green salad. There was no "organic spring mix" aisle in the Russian supermarkets. Heck, you were lucky to get a not-half-rotten cucumber most days.

As far as what's in the salads I make, it can vary. Usually it's romaine, spinach, spring mix or a combination of them all. And from there, I'll add just about anything I have in the fridge. Cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, snap peas, pecorino cheese (one of my faves), peppers, olives, etc. You get the idea.

And my go-to dressing has become a simple french dressing that takes literally minutes to prepare. It's from my Food Revolution cookbook and it goes something like this:
1/2 clove garlic minced
a pinch of kosher salt
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. dijon mustard
2 tbsp. red or white wine vinegar
6 tbsp. olive oil

Mix it all up in a jam jar or plastic container in that order and, as Ruby likes to say, Voila! you have an easy, quick, extremely tasty, dressing that is light and really brings out the flavours of the veggies with a nice bit of tang to it. I usually halve this recipe for a salad that feeds our family of four - if we're eating it just as a side dish. I also like to switch between the red or white wine vinegar depending on what I've made. With, say, a spaghetti tomato sauce I'd go with the red wine vinegar and with a grilled chicken or grilled fish, I'd do white wine vinegar. I know, it's pretty nutso. I have no idea if this makes a difference with anything but I feel like I know what I'm doing.

I also use just straight-up Olive Oil in this instead of EVOO. I don't know, I just don't like that really strong olive flavour in my salad all the time.

Anyone else have a favourite dressing recipe?