I LOVE RANCH! And who doesn't? Now, why is it that the ranch in most restaurants a) taste the same, and b) can't be found anywhere else (e.g., the market)?

In general, I like creamy vs. oil/vinegar based, though I do like the occasional olive oil and salt on my leaves. Exception: bleu cheese... bleh!

I make my own kick-butt vinegarette, with apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, herbs, and (the key) truffle oil.

No dressing, please.

A bit of salt and pepper.

And good croutons.

Salad is basically an excuse for eating croutons.

I LOVE RANCH! And who doesn't? Now, why is it that the ranch in most restaurants a) taste the same, and b) can't be found anywhere else (e.g., the market)?

In general, I like creamy vs. oil/vinegar based, though I do like the occasional olive oil and salt on my leaves. Exception: bleu cheese... bleh!

I make my own kick-butt vinegarette, with apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, herbs, and (the key) truffle oil.

ranch dressing (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=531493&highlight=ranch+dressing)

I like most dressings from Ken's Steakhouse. Lite Caesar and Lit Vidalia Onion are my favorites. A good Thousand Island on well chilled greens can't be beat either.

I like ranch and oil/vinegar dressings, but my favorite is a poppyseed dressing at one of my local restaurants. I can't find it anywhere and haven't tried to make it yet.

Lazy cook here: I was just wondering about a decent bottled ranch dressing to use as a base for chipotle/lime dressing--yum! Ken's? Newman's? Marie's?

For me I would take that creamy japanese sesame seeds dressing (don't know the name) or a imple olive oil and balsamic vinegar !

Exception: bleu cheese... bleh!


:eek:

I love bleu cheese dressing!! I don't like raspberry vinagarette, which so many restaurants offer these days.

:eek:

I love bleu cheese dressing!! I don't like raspberry vinagarette, which so many restaurants offer these days.

^ ^ ^ Fully agree. I love bleu cheese, ranch, creamy Italian and yes, Thousand Island dressing. On US Airways the salad of mixed weeds (another topic for another day) comes with raspberry vinagarette. YUCK !

:eek:

I love bleu cheese dressing!! I don't like raspberry vinagarette, which so many restaurants offer these days.

I'll second blue cheese. I usually use Ken's. Sweet blue cheese dressing is a turn-off, especially with buffalo wings.

I haven't made my own in awhile. Since I'm off this week for Spring Break, it gives me an excuse.

I also like Catalina type French. I can't use most of them as they are often made anymore with high fructose corn syrup which I can't have with a corn intolerance. WalMart's brand of Honey French still uses sugar instead.

Catalina French is particularly good if you put some cottage cheese on your salad before using the dressing... and then the croûtons. :)

I like Maries Bleu cheese, its a little expensive and deinitely not for the calorie challenged.

I'm strange in that blue cheese is the only salad dressing I don't like. I like several others including raspberry vinagarette. I like more salad than dressing so usually have it on the side. My husband's favorite is blue cheese.

I loosely follow Dr. Oz's diet book and avoid high fructose corn syrup whenever possible.

A little freshly squeezed lime juice and some decent olive oil: that's all you need. I can't abide any dressing beyond that: particularly not vinaigrettes.

A little freshly squeezed lime juice and some decent olive oil: that's all you need. I can't abide any dressing beyond that: particularly not vinaigrettes.

I agree that a simple homemade dressing is good. I like mixing lemon joice, olive oil and fresh herbs.

There's a Thai place near my home that has delicious warm peanut dressing they drizzle on salad. It's not heavy like peanut sauce.

Green Goddess - an old favorite that is not overly sweet

There are three dressings as far as I'm concerned:

(1) Ranch
(2) Oil & vinegar (and some salt & pepper)
(3) That ginger dressing they put on salads in Japanese restaurants

I LOVE RANCH! And who doesn't?

B-o-r-i-n-g!

Exception: bleu cheese... bleh!

Amen! (insert tambourine-banging icon here)


'Fraid I'm a honey-mustard fan, then comes creamy Italian, and (I suppose) French. Raspberry vinaigrette is ok with me, but can you say "ubiquitous"? :rolleyes:

Green Goddess. So retro, it must be chic again. Created in the '20's.

Drizzle of extra virgin Italian olive oil
Splash of a good Balsamic vinegar.
That's it!
I have never understood bottled salad dressings. The olive oil, Balsamic, a little salt and pepper is the best. Only exception to this basic dressing is the Caesar. That should only be made fresh at table-side in a wood salad bowl.

Drizzle of extra virgin Italian olive oil
Splash of a good Balsamic vinegar.
That's it!
I have never understood bottled salad dressings. The olive oil, Balsamic, a little salt and pepper is the best. Only exception to this basic dressing is the Caesar. That should only be made fresh at table-side in a wood salad bowl.

I'm in the same boat, less is more. And to add an European twist, the yoghurt sauces served at Greek/Turkish places on the continent do fit quite well with a feta based farmer's salad.

I'm in the same boat, less is more. And to add an European twist, the yoghurt sauces served at Greek/Turkish places on the continent do fit quite well with a feta based farmer's salad.

I'll often toss some Greek Feta into my salad along with some walnuts, yet always use the same combo of oil and vinegar.

I love salad and almost always order one when I eat out.

For me less is almost always more, and I am perfectly happy with a bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper, or a bit of olive oil and really good vinegar.

Sometimes, however, I like to try different types of dressing, especially when I am in a good restaurant that brags about their salads and dressing. Even then, however, I have the dressing on the side. You never know how someone will interpret "lightly dressed". ;) One of my favorite surprises was a raspberry dressing on a fish salad. Yum!

Back in the early '60s I had a Caesar salad at the Turf Club at Caliente. It was the best I have ever had, before or since. They said it had been a house specialty ever since they used to make it for Caesar Romero back in the days when Caliente was a party scene for the Hollywood crowd.

The second best Caesar I ever had was at a hotel in Spokane of all places. You just never know.

I despise Ranch Dressing. Hate Bleu Cheese, too.

My all-time favorite bottled dressing was Kraft French (not their "Creamy French", which is horrible) -- they discontinued that years ago. I asked why, and they said customers preferred "creamy" dressings. Yucch. I don't like what the Europeans call "French" dressing (another creamy concoction).

I like oil/vinegar type dressings, (non-creamy)Italian, honey-mustard, any Japanese dressing, Catalina French, or just plain wine vinegar.

Balsamic vinegar and blue cheese for me. Ranch is horrible, and appears way too much in the midwest. Creamy blue is good for wings.

I don't like too many bottled dressings, but Trader Joe's has one in the refrigerated section....it's cranberry gorgonzola, and although it is on the sweet side (which I normally don't like) it's pretty tasty on a green salad. Other than that, just simple vinegar based dressings work for me.

I agree....

A few simple ingredients allow the creation (easily) of dressings far better than can be bought "Bottled", expensive or cheaply.

Per Peeve....the use of soybean oil (which lasts forever and tastes like it has) in almost every bottled dressing. If you can't use good olive oil (and personally I like a couple of the "deeply flavored" - read strong - Spanish brands), try some of the oils from (or in last gasp, flavorless rapeseed/canola).

Nastiest habit of 'Merkin and Scuppered H'aislians, the addition of sugar to salad dressings and sauces, including the clearly indefensible addition of sugar to "steak" and "barbecue" sauce.

Lawry's Vintage Dressing (http://www.lawrysonline.com/e-store/prod_details.asp?pid=11221330324280&pcid=7927396476) is sublime. ^

I love parmesan peppercorn dressing. I also love the ginger dressing you get at teppanyaki restaurants. A local pizza place (Harry's, if any Hartford area people are reading this) has an outstandign house dressing that they bottle. Lime juice, salt, pepper and olive oil works well too, especially on more delicate greens.

Lawry's Vintage Dressing (http://www.lawrysonline.com/e-store/prod_details.asp?pid=11221330324280&pcid=7927396476) is sublime. ^

My thoughts exactly. I was reading through to see if anyone had posted it.

The creamier the better. Love a real, homemade Blue Cheese! YUM

And the consensus is.................................different strokes for different folks. ^ ^

That is good.

im all about the haute salad, with 5 leaves and a drizzle of sauce ^

Interesting thread! ^

Without a shadow of a doubt - especially for all you lucky people living stateside - the best salad dressing I have EVER tasted anywhere in the world is:

Olive Garden House Salad Dressing. It hasn't changed for years which is a good thing. It is absolutely fabulous! Especially as they do bottles to take away.....mmmmmmm :) You would have to be mad when you dine there and they ask "Soup or Salad" to go for the Soup. Salad everytime. :) ^

I LOVE RANCH! And who doesn't?

I don't. Just some fresh lemon juice with some oil, pepper and salt work great.

La Bonne Soupe in Midtown NYC has an absolutely scrumptious house dressing, a lightly garlicky vinaigrette with just the right tang of Dijon mustard and emulsified to creaminess. I can never resist mopping up the last drops with French bread. I've never bought a bottle (sold only at the restaurant) but the the label lists chicken broth as an ingredient, which sounds pretty strange but must add richness.

For actually dressing a salad, I'll take Ken's ranch, Marie's Creamy Italian Garlic, or a good Caesars.

But just as water is the universal solvent and O- blood is the universal donor, I also believe that ranch dressing is the universal dip.

Raw veggies - celery, carrots, broccoli. Fried mushrooms. Mozzarella sticks. Chicken wings (despite what the purists in the other thread say). Potato skins. Some may be better in blue cheese or marinara, but in a pinch, you can dip anything in ranch.

I was once visiting my then-girlfriend in St Louis, and even dipped my t-ravs in ranch. She was aghast (it may be part of why she eventually dumped me), but I thought it was pretty tasty.

im all about the haute salad, with 5 leaves and a drizzle of sauce ^

I went to Paris at 19 to do a traineeship and brush up the language. One of my first lessons was learned when attending dinner at family friends: Salad really means only a few leaves with homemade vinaigrette, after the main.

Of course, now I toss at least one chopped Jalapeno and red onion into the lot. Too much minimalism doesn't seem right either...

In Augusta there use to be a nice place called the Green Jacket. They have a outstand oil and vinegar dressing that I finally got the recipe for. It is the best I have ever tasted. No the rest. didn't go out of biz, they sold to those who can make more money off of it during the golf tourney than the entire year since it as across the street from the Augusta National.

I'm a bleu cheese and oil/vinegar eater...

I usually make a salad at least once a day with romaine, spinach, cilantro, feta, dried tomatoes and oil/vinegar with a little pepper.

Not a big bottled dressing fan, but...

If you live in Texas or can shop at Central Market or HEB, I love their house brand "Texas Twist" dressings. Especially the Balsamic Bleu Cheese with Pecans! Creamy balsamic...yummy!!

Also in the line - Mango Margarita, Roasted Poblano Ceasar, Spicy Peanut Jalapeno. and an avocado something-or-other whose name eludes me.

But just as water is the universal solvent and O- blood is the universal donor, I also believe that ranch dressing is the universal dip.

Raw veggies - celery, carrots, broccoli. Fried mushrooms. Mozzarella sticks. Chicken wings (despite what the purists in the other thread say). Potato skins. Some may be better in blue cheese or marinara, but in a pinch, you can dip anything in ranch.



Amen! My friends and I use ranch for everything, not just fries, veggies, but sandwiches, burritos, burgers, pizza, rice, fried chicken, etc...

One time, my friends and I were at El Torito and when our food came, we asked for several cups of ranch. Well, we never lifted a fork because we had no ranch to eat it with yet. The manager noticed us just sitting there and asked us if there was anything wrong. We mentioned the ranch to him and he went and got us our ranch. Then the eating finally started!:p

What's odd is that I don't like ranch on salad, but prefer 1000 island.

Steve

Amen! My friends and I use ranch for everything, not just fries, veggies, but sandwiches, burritos, burgers, pizza, rice, fried chicken, etc...


Ranch dressing is one of the most unhealthy foods you can eat -- 90% fat, high in sodium, high in calories, no nutrition value -- eat that with fries and other junk food, and you're making a cardiologist very rich....

I recently got into making super delicious salads, and so naturally I began exploring my taste buds and trying different salad dressings. I love bleu cheese, but sometimes its too heavy, so I go with a raspberry vinaigrette, especially if I have strawberries or apples in my salad. But, when in doubt, lemon juice and olive oil, you can't go wrong with a classic.

For all you Ranch fans out there---try Marie's Jalapeno Ranch. It's especially good if you have avocados & cilantro in your salad. It also makes a great dip.
My other favorite is a sesame dressing that they sell at Costco.

Greek Olive Oil (EV) and aged Balsamic vinegar.

I love a good caesar salad. After that it's usually bleu cheese. I do fancy a good vinegarette at times. :)

Wow, how has no one mentioned thousand island? You never can go wrong with thousand island. There was a bottled thousand island sauce that contained bacon bits, I think it's still being sold.

Normally when I go out and such, Italian or any vinigrette is my choice. Not a big fan of creamy Italian though. I just feel like I'm getting fatter when I go creamy.

Wow, how has no one mentioned thousand island? You never can go wrong with thousand island. There was a bottled thousand island sauce that contained bacon bits, I think it's still being sold.

Normally when I go out and such, Italian or any vinigrette is my choice. Not a big fan of creamy Italian though. I just feel like I'm getting fatter when I go creamy.

I prefer my Thousand Island on a sandwich, but I'll take it on a salad with 2 conditions: 1) it's very thick & 2) it's very chilled.

Wow, I thought everyone loved bleu cheese. I'm happy to see there are others who think it's barfy too!

My favorite brand is Brianna's (http://www.briannassaladdressing.com/Products.htm). I've tried and loved almost all of them.

The only Newman's I've liked is the honey mustard. The ones I hated - the flavors seemed surprisingly artificial despite them being all natural. YMMV.

2 parts olive oil
1 part white vinegar
a tablespoon of Dijon mustard
garlic
a little herbes de Provence
salt
pepper

The only Newman's I've liked is the honey mustard. The ones I hated - the flavors seemed surprisingly artificial despite them being all natural. YMMV.

The Newman's honey mustard has just become a favorite at our house. Just discovered recently, but it's quite good I think for bottled dressing.

Salad dressing? What's that?

Seriously, when I do indulge in salad dressing at home, I either just toss some olive oil and vinegar over the greens or use brand name Litehouse Blue Cheese. It's found near Marie's, in stores that carry it. Not all do. I try for canola oil as main ingredient instead of soybean oil, but that's just me.

Now--suppose I'm at a steak house and they are known for their blue cheese dressing--everyone knows that in that setting, salad dressings have no calories. :D

Sometimes at home I put blue cheese crumbles over lettuce. That works too (usually).

But, when in doubt, lemon juice and olive oil, you can't go wrong with a classic.Do you mix them together or drizzle separately? Would be nice (and healthy!) if I tried this & liked it ^

Also, has anyone tried the new dressing SPRITZERS? I have not, but in theory it's a decent idea... Esp when I think of my brother in law; when he finishes his salad there is still a quarter cup of dressing on the bottom of the plate/bowl :eek: People don't realize how many calories and fat are really in dressings. Just think of salad bars with the dressing containers that have HUGE LADLES in them :(

The spritzers are surprisingly effective. We've been using them for a few months. It's hard to believe the calorie count, but they are very tasty.

If I am eating salad at home, I use balsamic vinegar, no oil. In a restaurant, if I am with colleagues or on a date, I will order some kind of a vinegarette. If I am with people who I don't worry will judge me :) I go for ranch.

I agree with the OP - ranch never really tastes the same when you keep it at home. I am particularly fond of the peppercorn ranch dressing served at Max & Erma's.

Besides assorted vinegarettes and ranch, I am very anti-dressing. ESPECIALLY when it comes to bleu-cheese and thousand island. :p

raspberry vinigrette does it for me.

The spritzers are surprisingly effective. We've been using them for a few months. It's hard to believe the calorie count, but they are very tasty.Do you end up using a lot less on your salad?

Do you end up using a lot less on your salad?

Oh yeah. I'll pump it 10-12 times, but the amount I end up using is well below what I would dump from a regular bottle because it's distributed so much better as well as much easier to control. Too bad they can't find a way to create a thousand island spray. :D

When I was in high school too many years ago, I worked for a local (regionally famous) restaurant in Western NY (Olean, NY to be exact) called the Castle. It was owned by an Italian family who owned an adjacent hotel and a couple of restaurants in the area, amongst other things.

They were famous for their Loretto Salad Dressing. The Castle is long gone, but someone is still selling the dressing in Olean area grocery stores.

I recently found a recipe for it that's pretty darn close to the real thing that I remember. Thought I'd share this interesting dressing recipe. When I worked on the salad table in the kitchen, one way we used to serve salads was to top it with Loretto, then add some Gorgonzola or blue cheese on top. Give this a shot...

You might find the amount of worcestshire might be too much... adjust for your taste. Also, add the optional cheese. I used a combo of Romano and Parmesan. I think it is required to be more authentic to what they made.

Loretto Salad Dressing

* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1/2 cup tomato juice
* 1 tsp worcestshire sauce
* 2 dashes hot pepper sauce
* 1 small clove of garlic crushed (or garlic powder)
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients.
2. Blend well.
3. Add Romano cheese if desired.

A good ceasar dressing is my fave, and I'm definitely in the "a little salad with my dressing" camp, as my waistline will attest.

I love a good caesar salad. After that it's usually bleu cheese. I do fancy a good vinegarette at times. :)

why not combine the two? i make a grilled bleu cheese caesar salad all the time & get rave reviews.

Italian dressing is my favorite. ^