Salad dressing recipes that will have you rejecting the bottle...

Bottled dressings kind of suck, don't they?  They're always off--too sweet, too gloppy, weird fake garlic taste, dead rat parts floating around--and they're certainly not good for you, with all the preservatives and corn syrup meant to make them "good" and long lasting.  If you want to up your salad game (meaning, stop feeling resentful when eating salads), the best thing you can do is keep a couple of jars filled with some tasty, super-easy homemade dressings.  Here are my favorites.

Japanese restaurant-style salad dressing: combine in a blender

1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup peanut oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons minced celery
2 tablespoons ketchup
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Tahini Dressing: whisk together
1 cup tahini
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 grated garlic cloves
1 cup water
salt and black pepper to taste


Mustard and Caper Vinaigrette: whisk together
1 garlic clove, smashed and minced
1 teaspoon capers, chopped
1 teaspoon mustard
pinch sugar (optional)
4 tablespoons vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste


"Ranch" Dressing: whisk together
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup milk (any kind will do)
½ teaspoon dried summer savory
½ teaspoon dried dill
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon dried onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Green Goddess: combine in blender

half an avocado
¼ cup Greek yogurt
½ cup water (more as needed to adjust consistency)
1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
1 small clove of garlic
½ teaspoon salt
a squeeze of lime juice