My new cousins, Clint and Loretta, traveled from Molokai, Hawaii, to sunny California this week, en route to the midwest, and finally, to Charlevoix, Michigan for our wedding! They recently had a baby, Sakai, who is now almost 3 months old, and is the sweetest thing you have ever seen! They stayed with us last night, and although I love her dearly, Lo is allergic to cheese!!!! I KNOW! The torture! I can't even imagine.
So, I go to make a salad last night and realize, of course, all of my salad dressings, somehow, have cheese in them. Shocking! Then I decide to make my own!!! I mean, how hard can it be??? Meanwhile, Sakai is coo-ing away in his chair. Talking to us, looking around at this foreign place, and I can barely concentrate on dinner I am so in love with him.
I found this recipe in one of my Emeril cookbooks, and I kid you not, it is FANTASTIC. I was embarrassed because when we were washing the dishes, I was purposely hoarding the left-over dressing, and dipping a spoon (ok, it was my finger) into it over and over and over. I literally had to cut myself off, or I would have drank it.
And get this......there's no cheese in it?!?! I am recently discovering that any concoction with oil, lemon, and salt is A-Okay by me!
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): I don't even want to say it
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): Sakai could have done this himself
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): you chop, you whisk. Done.
Sakai's Salad Dressing (Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette)
2 Tbl chopped fresh herbs (I used Oregano and Cilantro)
1 Tbl minced shallots
1 tsp minced garlic
3 Tbl fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbl Balsamic vinegar
Combine herbs, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl, and whisk to blend. Then slowly add olive oil in this steady stream, whisking until vinaigrette thickens. (If using vinegar, whisk in after oil.)
As I am sure you read in the last post, I love vinegar. But for whatever reason, I didn't use vinegar last night. We used the dressing as is, and then I proceeding to basically drink the dressing that was leftover. I couldn't stop myself.
Oh, and by the way, 1 tsp minced garlic??? Seriously? What am I supposed to do with that. I added at least 2-3 times that amount of garlic. It's like an addiction. I can't stop once I start. It stings.
And if you are too lazy to go to the store and get fresh herbs, use 1 tsp dry herbs for every 1 Tbl fresh herbs that recipe calls for. But know you are missing out. And that you are lazy. And that you have no real excuse by now to not have fresh herbs laying around.
T-minus 8 days until the wedding. Maybe my quest to gain a gadonka-donk can be expedited if I continually drink salad dressing. Or I might die trying.
