I suppose convenience is a factor for many, but at home the ease and results from composing one's own salad dressings certainly out weigh almost any of the proprietaries I've tried.

Long a fan of "Blue Cheese' dressings, I recall a demonstration by a then well know resturant chef who claimed I had never really "tasted" a real blue Cheese salad dressing, and whipped up a basic oil (good) and vinegar (matched to the greens) dressing with some Blue Cheese (actually a humble Amana) crumpled atop.

About the only excuses I can muster for "creamy" dressings are the long ago mandatory wedge of Iceberg, once again cultishly popular, and the now rarely encountered Crab or Shrimp "Louie". If you want a creamy dressing, a steel bowl and whisk or a good blender plus high quality ingredients will provide results better than any of the "proprietaries" I've encountered.

The current fixation with Balsamic vinegars has brought more bad salad dressings to the table than I can tolerate. High quality balsamic vinegar has its place in preparing salads, but like sugar in BBQ sauce and cornbread, 'sweeter" ain't always "better". For me Balsamics can add appeal to salads which include walnuts, pecans or non-citrus fruits, but have little or no place dressing classic compositions of "just greenery".