One of the perks of working for Blue Moon is free greens. During the spring and summer, this means salad for at least one meal a day for me, every day of the week. A challenge (aka an opportunity for improvement) I face is keeping my salads interesting.

How do I do this when the greens themselves don’t change, though they are fresh and wonderful and delicious? It’s all in the dressing.

Homemade salad-dressings (mainly vinaigrettes) are relatively new to me. I grew up with bottled salad dressing (Thousand Island’s ranch, anyone?), and have been doing a simple oil and balsamic mix for the past few years. Now that I’m eating salad Every Single Day, my repertoire of simple dressings has expanded. I use the formula below as my starting point for dressings.

Basic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

I have a chart (I love charts) of different options in each category, and mix and match to create a dressing that suits that greens and my taste buds for the week.

salad dressing

My go-to combinations right now are honey mustard (olive oil + Dijon mustard + onion or chives + honey) and Asian sesame (peanut oil + rice wine vinegar + minced scallions + sesame seeds, Bragg’s liquid aminos, and grated ginger).

My challenge for you? Think of 2 different flavor combinations that you might like, and put them on your list to make over the next two weeks!