Food and Wine Ginger Salad Dressing

The Wife has had a long few days with being sick and The Little One (she is 2 1/2 after all), so I volunteered to handle dinner tonight.  And to score some brownie points, I even voluntarily offered a salad for dinner.

Okay - the "salad as dinner" thing is partly because The Wife and I are going on a cruise in a little over a month.  That means it is diet time healthy recipe time around these parts...So when I see recipes come across my inbox that seem like they'll won't leave me starving and satisfy The Wife's desire for healthy, I file them away.

Such was the case today when a Food and Wine email graced my inbox with a link to a salad dressing slide show where I found this recipe.

Making your own salad dressing is ridiculously easy.  A little flavoring, a little oil, a few other things and voila!  It ain't rocket science - but the flavors will blow bottled dressing away.  I will say, if there's more than two of you, double this recipe.  It makes about 1 cup, total.  It was the perfect accompaniment to a Bahn Mi Salad (recipe to come) with lemongrass chicken, carrots, cilantro and cucumber.

And no, Duke's Mayo isn't mandatory, but, as anyone from the South will attest to, it is the best.

Overall, this is an easy recipe that will adequately dress up simple lettuce, or complement a symphony of flavors in a more complex salad.

Ginger Salad Dressing

1 Generous Tablespoon Minced Ginger
1 Generous Tablespoon Minced Shallot
2 Tablespoons Duke's Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons Vinegar (The original recipe called for Rice Wine Vinegar, but all we had on hand was Red Wine Vinegar - worked just fine)
1 Tablespoon Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1/3 Cup of Vegetable/Olive Oil

Combine ginger, shallot, mayonnaise, vinegar and soy sauce in a blender.

Blend until a paste forms.  Then drizzle in your oil and and blend for one minute to combine.  Pour into a mason jar (or any vessel of your choice).  And add salt, pepper and sugar to taste and shake to combine.

Refrigerate until you're ready to use - in this case, on top of a Bahn Mi Salad.

Enjoy!