It’s summer and we are constantly craving salads here at Hamilton Beach. Leafy greens are all over the farmers markets and grocery stores and they are calling our names! We eat salads with kale, Bibb lettuce, romaine, and arugula. A great way to keep salads interesting is to change them up every time, so we add toppings like chicken, toasted nuts, fresh tomatoes, sliced onions, strawberries, and goat cheese. Of course, a traditional Caesar salad or a simple salad with blue cheese can be equally delightful, and we know there is one stand-out way to ramp up your salads at home (and it’s really easy!): make your own salad dressing.
That’s right, salad dressing doesn’t just come from the grocery store. Dressings are deceptively easy to make at home, can store easily in the fridge, and will boost the flavor of your salads instantly. We love to use our Hamilton Beach Single-Serve Blender to make salad dressings in under a minute. Simply add the ingredients, pulse, and pour over your salad. You can even serve it and store it in the blender jar! If you don’t have a single-serve blender, you can add the ingredients to a Mason jar, seal, and shake, or just mix in a bowl with a fork or whisk. You get much more flavor than store-bought dressings that have been sitting on shelves for days or weeks, and you can avoid the processed ingredients and additives typically found in many factory-made dressings. It’s too easy not to make your own dressing at home, and you will probably find it’s a lot cheaper, too.
Today, we are focusing on creamy dressings – these are some of the most popular dressings people buy, particularly Caesar and blue cheese. These easy homemade versions will make your fresh veggies sing and soon you’ll be bringing salad to the table every day.
Creamy Caesar Dressing
Ingredients
Instructions
- For dressing, place anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper in blender.
- Blend until mixture is creamy.
- Add mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and oil to blender. Blend until smooth.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Notes
To add creaminess to this recipe, we use mayonnaise instead of raw or coddled eggs; it should keep in the fridge for a week. It is easiest to make in the Hamilton Beach Single-Serve Blender.
Test Kitchen Tip: For thinner dressing, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place garlic in blender jar.
- Process on HIGH until chopped.
- Add remaining ingredients to blender jar.
- Process on HIGH until blended and still chunky.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Notes
The tanginess of blue cheese works with the creaminess of mayonnaise, milk and sour cream to create the perfect blue cheese dressing. It tastes great over a simple salad or as a side to spicy Buffalo wings. Make a smaller batch by cutting the recipe in half and mixing the dressing in our Single-Serve blender.
What are your go-to summer salad recipes? Share with us by leaving a comment below.
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