Salad Dressing

This vinaigrette is excellent on just about any green salad. I especially like it on butterhead lettuce, oak leaf, and other delicate greens. Sweet-and-tangy balsamic vinegar is the star here, so choose one that is good quality.

Pea greens are the immature green tendrils of the pea plant and often have a fresher “pea” flavor than garden peas themselves. Chive blossoms appear here for a few weeks in early spring and add a mellow onion flavor to everything from salad greens, to fresh sashimi, to buttermilk mashed potatoes. To use them, just pull the individual lavender petals off the chive blossom and sprinkle them directly on top of the salad after it is dressed.

Homemade Russian Dressing can be made in minutes from stuff you probably have on hand, and its flavor is fresher and brighter than bottled.

We hope you have a microplane grater (see page 290), because the quality of the lemon zest makes a big difference.

The clean, fresh flavors of cilantro and lime make this one of our all-time favorite dressings. If you like a smooth, emulsified dressing, make it in a blender.