On hot nights, dress to impress
Our antidote to steamy or lazy summer nights is a big platter lined with salad greens and blanched vegetables, bits of grilled chicken or steak left from another dinner, and a sharp vinaigrette. Bottled dressings may taste fine, but they tend to be too thick and too sweet and overpower delicate native produce. Homemade vinaigrettes, on the other hand, can be as sharp as you want them. Sharp describes the disproportionate amount of vinegar to oil. Where the classic dressing has three parts oil to one part vinegar, we often use a two-to-one ratio (say, 2 tablespoons oil to 1 of vinegar).
Less oil, of course, keeps our waistlines slim, but it also seems to heighten the taste of all the ingredients on the plate. The French are famous for their pucker-up oil-and-vinegar dressings, which is how we know about them. About twice a week, we pull the bottles from the pantry shelves and begin every dressing the same way: vinegar, salt, and pepper go into the bowl first so the acid can dissolve the salt. Mustard -- always Dijon -- is added to this mixture. Then we whisk madly while adding the oil a teaspoon at a time so the dressing thickens. This simple process, called emulsification, happens when the oil and vinegar come together and stay that way for a while without separating. Mustard helps prevent separation and adds its warm and piquant taste. Store dressings in jars in the refrigerator; if the oil solidifies, it will liquefy if you dip the jar into warm water.
Lately, the two dressings we keep on hand are, first, a Dijon vinaigrette, made with both lemon juice and white wine vinegar. This elixir is a golden color in the bowl. Second is a dark mixture made from balsamic vinegar -- not the kind that sits in casks for a dozen years, but the less expensive variety -- mixed with mustard and oil. The lighter one can be whisked with mayonnaise to make a creamy version. Drizzle either on local lettuces, sliced tomatoes, cooked potatoes, or pasta salad. Save the balsamic dressing for cold chicken salads or blanched vegetables such as green beans.
