Salad Dressings

One of the easiest things to make at home is salad dressing. When you make your own salad dressing, you not only save money, but you also end up with a better quality product. Your salad will be pure and fresh, and will never have any high fructose corn syrup, glucose, sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn byproducts such as xantham gum, guar gum, citric acid etc, or preservatives.
I make my salad dressing in the bowl that I will put the salad in. My sister makes her dressing in little glass jars, such as Dijon Mustard jars, because she likes to shake the dressing in order to emulsify it. I just quickly whisk it a little bit with a fork, throw the salad in, and mix it all- either with a salad fork or, better yet, with my own hands (some people say that is ''the'' way to do it).
My dressings don't follow measurements. I just splash a tiny little bit of each item, then whisk it together. Make sure that there is enough salt and oil (if it is too runny, it does not have enough oil), and you are set to go! The key is to always use quality ingredients; they will last for a long time, so they are worth the investment. This is my favorite, daily dressing:

RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE:

1. Extra Virgin Olive Oil: cold pressed
2. ''Alessi'' White Balsamic Raspberry Blush Vinegar (available at Publix)
3. Sea Salt

• If you wish to add a little pungent taste to the dressing, you can finely chop a little bit of red onion (cheaper), or shallots, throw it in with the dressing, and let it sit in the dressing for a bit while you make the salad/dinner. When you let the onion sit in the salt and oil, it makes it taste milder and, in my case, keeps it from giving me a stomach ache afterwards!
• If you wish for a sweeter taste, you can add a tiny little bit of maple syrup to the dressing.
• My sister loves a little mustard in the dressing, so she adds a tiny little bit of Grey Poupon as well.
• Some people substitute the vinegar for lemon. You can also use white balsamic vinegar, aged balsamic, or any other good quality vinegar of your choice. Enjoy!