Jamie Oliver's Jam Jar Dressings

In my opinion, the most important part of a salad is the dressing. It’s all very well saying everyone needs to eat more salad, fruit, and veggies (it’s true, we do), but it should be a pleasure, not a chore! By dressing a salad you can make it delicious, meaning you want to eat it rather than feel you have to. The other good news is that your body can absorb far more of the nutrients from salads because of the presence of oil and acid in the dressing. So dressings give you the double whammy of being a healthy benefit and also delicious! Don’t drown your salads in dressing, though — remember, a little goes a long way — and always dress them at the last minute before serving.

I like to make my dressings in jam jars because it’s so easy to see what’s going on — you can shake them up easily and any leftovers can be kept in the jars in the fridge. I’m going to give you four basic dressings that can be used with all the salads in this chapter. With the exception of the yogurt dressing, they are based on a ratio of 3 parts oil to I part acid (vinegar or lemon). Generally, this ratio is a really good benchmark for making any dressing, but it’s always sensible to have a little taste once you’ve shaken it up. If the seasoning is there but you’re finding it a little too acidic, you’ve cracked it, because once the dressing is on the salad leaves it will be perfect.

-Jamie Oliver


French Dressing

Peel and finely chop ¼ of a clove of garlic. Put the garlic, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons of white or red wine vinegar, and 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the lid on the jar and shake well.

Yogurt Dressing

Put 1/3 cup of natural yogurt, 2 tablespoons of white or red wine vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the lid on the jar and shake well.

Lemon Dressing

Put 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon. Put the lid on the jar and shake well.

Balsamic Dresing

Put 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the lid on the jar and shake well.