The Best Dressing EVER

Maybe not everyone will agree, but we think so.

I haven't posted a lot of recipes lately, and I have a bunch to share, so... Here goes one that I've been meaning to post for a while. I have a couple favorite recipes that I got from my friend Mark's mom, and I just have to share this one. This salad dressing is so delicious! It's hard to explain what it tastes like; when having it with our salad the other night, I asked the guys how they would describe it. Camden said a number of words...sweet, tangy, a little salty (?), vinegary, among others. I wish I could describe it better because you may not have all the ingredients - and might not want to run out to get them just for this one recipe. But, if you're adventurous, you might. Or if you cook a lot of different things...you might just have it all in your kitchen! I say go for it if you don't have it already. Camden is not big on salad at all and will only eat it with two dressings - raspberry vinaigrette or this vinaigrette. He will always choose this one if it's available. So will I.

I have no idea what this is called. I call it Susan's dressing because I got the recipe from Susan. No clue where it's really from... Some of the ingredients might make you say what??, but just trust me on this. It IS so good.

Here are the ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1tsp garlic powder
1Tbsp dry mustard
1tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp celery seed
1/2 cup minced onion (if using dried, find conversion)
1Tbsp + 1/2tsp basil
1/2tsp celery salt
1/2tsp pepper
2 cups salad/veg oil
2/3 cups vinegar (apple cider)
1/4 cup lemon juice

Shake together ingredients in jar. Shake before each use. Makes 1 quart. Pretty easy. The hardest part is measuring. Yeah, that's rough.

I put all dry ingredients in and shake them first. Then I add the vinegar and lemon juice to help dissolve the sugar. I add the oil last. I always use the dried onion just because it allows the dressing to keep longer.

My fancy "jar"...

Oil - I typically use Enova oil. I love that stuff. And it works really well with this dressing. The last time I went to get it, the store was out, so I got the Smart Balance Omega oil instead... Tasted just fine, but it separates even more between each use of the dressing. Enova is thicker, I suppose. I'll be sure to only use it from here on out.

Yum! Pour over some lettuce, apples, cranberries, and walnuts for a delicious dish. (We usually use feta cheese. We were just out when I took the pic and used cheddar.) In the winter, we use clementines instead of the cranberries (or sometimes with...).