Goddess and others

America, without a doubt, must have the largest variety of salad dressings in the world. Many are not just simple salad dressings--they also have their own unique history. You almost need to take something like Salad Dressing 101 for the full picture.

The Green Goddess Dressing for instance was created in 1923 in San Francisco 's Palace Hotel for a famous actor who was in a popular stage play of the same name. The Caesar Dressing was dreamt up in 1924 by an Italian immigrant who lived in San Diego but opened a restaurant just across the border in Tijuana, Mexico to escape the dreaded prohibition. The Louis Dressing was most likely created in Seattle’s Olympic Club circa 1900 to dress Dungeness Crab, a favorite of Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, who was performing at the opera at that time. Thousand Island Dressing also dates back to 1900 and was named after the 1000 Island area between the US and Canada by a fishing guide's wife who dazzled her husband's clients with her salads.

Classic American dressings are as a whole robust and rich, flavored with garlic, herbs and spices, sometimes chili sauce, and made creamy by the addition of mayonnaise or buttermilk. They work exceptionally well with a salad of crisp iceberg lettuce, sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes, julienned carrots and a few buttery, crunchy croutons.

For my homemade dressings, I prefer them a tad less creamy but with a few splashes of mild vinegar and grassy olive oil. Lately, I’ve been using deep and complex sherry vinegar, tiny dice of mild shallots, a dollop of smooth Dijon and a few sugar crystals, sorry Charlotte. My dressing is inspired by Mark Bittman, who knows how to cook everything.

So then here is yet another one to add to the assortment.

Santa Barbara-Salad Dressing

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ shallot, minced

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Whisk the vinegar with the mayonnaise and mustard vigorously until smooth. Add the olive oil slowly until the dressing emulsifies. Add shallot and sugar, whisk some more and season with salt and pepper.

This dressing is more than enough for a salad for 4 people. Any leftover dressing can be refrigerated for another day. I use assorted greens mixed with Arugula, 3 tablespoons of toasted pepitas or pistachios, 1 small avocado, cubed and a handful of tiny pearl tomatoes, cut in half. Toss the whole salad with enough dressing to lightly coat all the leaves. No dressing on the side!