I know you have a zillion things to do before Yom Tov, so how dare I write an article suggesting you make your own salad dressings?!
You’ll be happy to learn that making salad dressings is, in fact, a pretty quick and simple task. It doesn’t have to be daunting at all. Most can be made with just oil, vinegar, and dried spices, shaken vigorously in a glass or plastic bottle or container.
A blogger, who calls herself the Skinny Chef, writes that preparing delicious homemade salad dressings is one of the easiest tasks that beginning cooks can quickly master. Besides, think about the control you can have over the quality of your ingredients. (You knew this was coming, given my perspective as a holistic nutritionist.) As you may have noticed, many readymade Pesach products – such as mayonnaise, salad dressing, and sauces – contain cottonseed oil. This cheap oil is used to replace the kitnyios-based oil usually used during the year. But if you make your own, you can use extra virgin olive or walnut oil, as well as other quality ingredients, like apple cider vinegar (preferably organic, although that may be hard to find on Pesach), dried herbs, and even fresh vegetables or fruits. Your homemade pesachdik dressings will have no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, no added sugar, and no cottonseed oil.
I’m going to spare you the nutrition lecture on this one, but I will share what well-known, Harvard-trained physician Dr. Andrew Weil writes in his newsletter Dr. Weil’s Vitamin Adviser for Your Whole Body, in response to a question about cottonseed oil. He says this product is a no-no, and even goes as far as to advise his readers to go through their pantries and toss anything made with cottonseed oil. He believes cottonseed oil may contain natural toxins and probably has unacceptably high levels of pesticide residues.
I don’t mean to induce panic – all of us will probably end up ingesting some cottonseed oil over the holiday, as ubiquitous as it is pesachdik products – but be on the lookout and avoid it whenever possible.
I should note one other benefit of making your own dressings. Even some of the relatively healthy Pesach-certified salad dressings I’ve come across tend to make my mouth pucker with their excessive amounts of vinegar. With homemade dressings, you decide how tangy, vinegary, salty, spicy, or sweet to make them. And if there is an herb or ingredient you or your family members don’t like, cannot have, are allergic to, or do not eat on Pesach, you can easily substitute.
Before we go on to our recipes, another word about healthy oils, which are of course the mainstay of your homemade dressings. Dr. Weil, in his same newsletter posting, recommends that people use extra virgin olive oil – a mostly monounsaturated oil with antioxidant activity – as the main fat in their diet. He cites evidence showing that populations that consume good quality olive oil as their primary dietary fat have significantly lower rates of both heart disease and cancer.
Another well-known integrative physician, Dr. Mark Houston, director of the Hypertension Institute in Nashville, recommends four tablespoons a day of extra virgin olive oil for his patients who need to lower their blood pressure and overall risk of cardiovascular disease. Keep that in mind as you prepare the following heart-healthy, easy-to-make dressings.
Walnut oil is usually available with kosher for Pesach certification. In addition to using extra virgin olive oil, try using some walnut oil. Nutritionally, walnut oil is a rich source of essential fatty acids and the antioxidant ellagic acid. Antioxidants are those substances that counter the effects of free radicals, potentially volatile substances that may cause cell damage and accelerate aging. Taste-wise, walnut oil can provide a nutty flavor to your salad dressing recipes.
Before you begin, get a couple of 12-ounce glass salad dressing bottles (I found them at Target and on Amazon), and make as many salad dressings as you want at one time. (The recipes can also be halved if you need only a small quantity.)
Basic Italian Dressing
This recipe is adapted from one I found in the Garden of Eating cookbook published by Yeshiva Degel Hatorah. It could be considered a vinaigrette, which is a mixture of olive oil and vinegar, flavored with herbs, spices, and other ingredients. Vinaigrettes usually consist of three- or even four-parts oil to one part vinegar, well mixed.
Danilo Alfaro, in writing eloquently about the perfect vinaigrette on About.com, asserts that “the best we can do is encourage the oil and vinegar to come together for a little while, which they will grudgingly do, provided we shake, stir, or otherwise mix them up really well. We call that a temporary emulsion – temporary because the oil and vinegar begin to separate as soon as you stop mixing or stirring.”
Ingredients
1 c. extra virgin olive oil (or walnut or safflower oil)
1/3 c. apple cider vinegar (or distilled white vinegar)
1 – 2 tsp. salt (you get to choose according to your taste; remember, freedom of choice—that is why you are making dressings instead of settling for store-bought)
1 tsp. onion powder (or 1/2 c. finely chopped onion)
1 tsp. garlic powder (omit this if you don’t use garlic on Pesach)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. black pepper
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a salad dressing bottle, or a glass jar with a lid, or even a plastic container, and shake. You may want to let the dressing stand for 24 hours to allow the flavors to mingle, but it will be fine it you use it before that. Just remember to shake well before each use,
Thyme-Honey Vinaigrette
This and the following recipes are variations on the vinaigrette theme, both adapted from a wonderful little cookbook called the The Best 50 Salad Dressings, by Stacy Printz:
Ingredients
1 c. oil
1/3 c. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. honey
1 – 2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a salad dressing bottle or similar jar and shake until well mixed.
Walnut Oil Vinaigrette
This dressing has a slight twist: two kinds of oil and two kinds of vinegar.
Ingredients
1/4 – 1 /3 c. olive oil
1/4 – 1 /3 c. walnut oil
3 T. distilled white vinegar
2 T. of apple cider vinegar
1 T. of honey
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 – 1/4 tsp. salt
3 T. chopped walnuts (optional)
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a salad dressing bottle or similar jar and shake until well mixed. Chill at least one hour to blend flavors.
Citrus Salad Dressing
I almost want to call this one “Salad Dressing for Dummies” because it’s so easy. It’s adapted from the classic The Spice and Spirit Kosher for Passover Cookbook.
Ingredients
1 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. of lemon juice
1/2 c. of orange juice (or pineapple juice)
1/2 – 1 tsp. salt
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a glass salad dressing bottle, and shake until well-mixed. This is great on greens, cooked broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini.
Okay, now we’re upping the difficulty level: The next dressing requires a blender. But I think you’ll find it worth the extra little bit of trouble.
Zucchini Dressing
I adapted this really creamy dressing for Pesach from a recipe in the book Ecological Cooking.
Ingredients
1/2 c. of olive oil
2 c. chopped raw zucchini (about one medium zucchini)
1/2 c. of water
1 tsp. vinegar
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. onion powder (or one small onion, diced)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
1/2 tsp. basil
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed for one to two minutes. Chill and serve over any vegetable, especially greens and tomatoes.
Lauren Mirkin, CNS, LDN, LGPC, is a licensed nutritionist and counselor. She provides nutrition counseling at the Johns Hopkins Integrative Medicine and Digestive Center at Green Spring Station. Contact her at 
443-326-7023443-326-7023443-326-7023443-326-7023 or holisticnutritionist@verizon.net.
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