Aunt Jo’s Garlicky Vinaigrette
A very simple, very French vinaigrette elevates this mixed greens salad.
Ingredients
- 1 large garlic clove (or 2 small to medium)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more if needed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or balsamic or… see Kitchen Notes)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- mixed greens of your choice
Instructions
- Smash the garlic clove(s) with the side of a knife. You don’t want to pulverize it—just break it up into big chunks and expose the insides. Remove skins and place in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add salt and mash the garlic into it with the tines of a fork. Let it sit for several minutes, Then add oil and mash the garlic some more with the fork—this breaks it up further and releases the garlic juices into the oil.
- Set aside for a while. The longer you can leave it, the more garlicky the end results will be. Sometimes, I’ll make it to this point a few hours before dinner. Other times, I’ll be whipping this up just minutes before needing it—it’s flexible.
- Add vinegar and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Whisk together thoroughly with fork and pour over salad greens, using the fork to hold back as much of the busted up garlic as possible. A few tiny bits will make it past the fork and into the salad. Think of those bits as bonuses for whoever gets them. Toss the salad. Taste, adjust the seasonings with salt, if needed, and serve.
Kitchen Notes
Save your salads from drowning. The quarter cup of dressing this recipe produces is plenty for side salads for three to even five or six people. Seriously. You only need to put a nice gloss on the salad greens. Whatever dressing you use, if there’s a pool of it at the bottom of the bowl when the salad’s gone, you’re using too much. Give the greens a chance to contribute some flavor to the party. Don’t drown them.
Vinegar(s)—mix it up. I used to use red wine vinegar to make this batch because that’s what Aunt Jo used when I learned at her kitchen table. But we have many vinegars on hand in our kitchen at any given time, and over the years, I’ve used all of them to make this dressing. Balsamic is often my go to for its powerful taste (and after using red wine vinegar for authenticity and nostalgia’s sake, I’m going back to balsamic—I just like its bigger flavor). I’ve also used half balsamic and half Japanese rice vinegar when I want a light, tart dressing.
Balance. I’ve also experimented with the oil-to-vinegar ratio over the years. For a while I was enamored of a 2:1 ratio, and for a brief period, I even ratcheted it up to a puckery nearly 1:1. But then I was in a lovely SoHo bistro whose name escapes me (not Balthazar) and had a salad with such a subtle, simple vinaigrette that I immediately reverted to the classic 3 parts oil, one part vinegar.