HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSINGS 
from Theresa
1. Ranch
2. Red Raspberry Vinaigrette

Ranch dressing has only few ingredients (above).
Chopped chives look nice when added to the basic recipe.
Ranch dressing on mixed greens.  One tablespoon is enough for a regular salad if you leave enough room in your bowl to stir well.

Homemade Ranch

I concocted this dressing quickly one day when I wanted something for butter lettuce, which doesn't seem to taste very good with my usual oil and vinegar dressing.  It turned out so well it has become our standard dressing.

It can be made very quickly- it doesn't involve any chopping, you just need to combine ingredients. I don't even need to measure. But here are some amounts that you can start with, until you realize you don't need to measure anymore either:
Recipe:

1 cup mayonnaise 
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 heaping tablespoons dill relish, non-sweetened 
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients. The above amounts just fit in a pint canning jar after they've been mixed. Store dressing in the refrigerator.

One tablespoon of dressing is enough for a regular sized salad, if you keep mixing the lettuce until the dressing spreads and coats all the greens.  Make sure your salad bowl is large enough to allow for mixing.

Explanation of Ingredients:
  • We like to use safflower mayonnaise.  Adding the yogurt is optional, but it cuts down on the fat from the mayonnaise and doesn't alter the flavor.
  • Milk is added to thin the mayo and yogurt to a consistency that is good for dressing.
  • There should be enough balsamic vinegar to turn the mixture slightly brown.  Don't skip the vinegar- it is important to the flavor.
  • I use homemade unsweetened dill relish, but any type of relish would probably do. 
  • Variations:  If you feel like chopping, adding minced onions or minced raw garlic would probably be very good.  Chives add a nice touch of color.  Chopped fresh dill would be good too.
Picture
Raspberry vinaigrette dressing ingredients. The tall skinny bottle next to the olive oil is homemade raspberry vinegar.
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Finished dressing after pouring over greens. Notice the oil and vinegar have separated already, with the oil on top.

Homemade
Raspberry 
Vinaigrette Dressing

I made my first homemade dressing after taking a workshop on cooking with herbs by Steven Buchholtz, chef owner of Crema Cafe in Madison, WI (goodcrema.com).  He shared his basic oil and vinegar dressing recipe, which I modified to create this raspberry dressing after I started making vinegar from the small patch of wild raspberries in our yard.  Raspberry vinaigrette seems to differ from your basic vinaigrette in that it includes a sweetener.  I've used honey instead of sugar.  I also tried this with a yogurt base and it tasted fine, but was Pepto-bismal pink and I didn't want to eat it. So I've stuck with the oil base since then.
Recipe:

1/2 cup red raspberry vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoons minced onion
2 teaspoons brown mustard
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Mince the garlic and onion as small as possible. The brown mustard can be Dijon or any other interesting mustard you have around. Combine all ingredients. 

I used to store this dressing in the refrigerator, but the oil usually solidified when I did that, and I wasn't very good at remembering to take it from the refrigerator long enough for it to warm up before I wanted to use it.  So now I just store it in the cupboard and haven't had any problems with it, since both oil and vinegar are preservatives.

Make sure you stir well or shake the jar before each use, to temporarily combine the oil and vinegar.  One tablespoon per salad is enough.

Buying raspberry vinegar is expensive, so see also instructions on making your own flavored vinegar.