How-to emulsify a vinaigrette (Lemon vinaigrette)

While browsing through the aisles in my local grocery store, I always try to be observant to who is buying what and what is available. One of the largest shelf spaces are devoted to salad dressings alone, its main rivals seems to be the canned aisle, or pre-made frozen meals. In any case, after reading a few labels, I realized there are a ton of options to go through: original, low-fat, reduced-fat, non-fat, fat-free – the list goes on. I did however read a few labels and was kind of thrown off by the fact that I didn’t know a lot of the ingredients that were used in these products, specifically in emulsified dressings.

So I’ve decided that for my next “how-to” installment that I should explore how to create your very own vinaigrette. The key here is to slowly add oil to your mixture so that you are able to create an emulsification.

However, I should point out that different oils emulsify better than others. The one the works the best is blended vegetable oil or canola oil. But, I would suggest using some other kind of oil such as olive or avocado seed since the blends and canola tend to be full of GMO’s and you really don’t know what weird blend is actually in there. Stick to the pure stuff.

I should mention that this needs to be done in a blender, and the emulsification is less likely to hold if you do it by hand. Don’t get me wrong, it will still be a great vinaigrette, but it won’t hold the emulsification as well as it could.

Use this recipe as a marinade for chicken/fish/veggies. This also works really well with potato salads (great alternative to mayo based), and marinated vegetables or cheeses. I would even dare you to spread a little bit on your next burger bun or sandwich and sear it in a pan real quick. Whatever you do with it, you can have the peace of mind that it’s healthy.

If you want to make this into a Dijonaise style dressing, use 2-3 Tablespoons of mustard to make it more mustard based.

If you want to make this into an Italian dressing, add some more garlic (however garlicy you like it), roasted red pepper (1/2 a pepper), and basil (a few sprigs).

Make it “creamy” by adding either an aole, mayo, or grated parm cheese (about 1/8 cup).  

Anyway, let’s do this!

Lemon vinaigrette (emulsified)

Ingredients:

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

2 sprigs of thyme (stems removed)
2 sprigs of oregano (stems removed)

1 clove garlic (roasted if you have it)

1/8 medium red onion (white works too)

2 tsp mustard (Dijon or honey-Dijon works best)

Salt and pepper to taste (I used about ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper)
1/4 cup apple cider/champagne/white balsamic vinegar

Olive/avocado seed oil

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until incorporated
   
2. Put the blender at a medium speed and slowly begin to pour your oil into the center of the whirlpool 
   
3. It should start thickening up like this
   
4. Your dressing is complete when the hole in the liquid disappears completely as depicted in the picture below.