What are the essential components for making a perfect salad dressing?

Salad days

Summer is definitely salad season and there are so many different combinations of salad and salad dressings out there.

But what are the essential components for making a salad dressing? Well it usually involves oil, a source of acidity (like citrus juice or vinegar), a touch of sweetness, herbs, spices or seasoning plus any additional ingredients for flavour.

What is the best oil to use for a salad dressing?

You can use any oil for a salad dressing but Extra Virgin rapeseed oil is a great choice for making salad dressings with.

There are a few reasons why:

• Extra Virgin rapeseed oil is cold pressed for natural goodness, so it retains the majority of the minerals, vitamins, enzymes and trace elements that make rapeseed oil a good choice

• It has a naturally mellow and nutty flavour which doesn’t overpower the flavour of the other dressing ingredients

• It’s vivid golden colour makes a dressing that not only tastes great but looks delicious too.

Shake it up

No matter how hard you try to shake, stir or whisk oil and vinegar together, they eventually separate. This happens because vinegar and oil are made of very different types of molecules that are attracted to their own kind. That’s why it’s always important to shake, whisk or stir your salad dressing before you pour it on to your salad to make sure the ingredients and flavours are as combined as they can be.