House Dressing
This month’s special recipe is ‘Sabzi’s House Dressing’.
Sabzi’s House Dressing is simple in principle – it’s our play on a delicious French vinaigrette; a Dijon mustard based dressing that we use in many ways.
While there is no doubt it’s incredibly useful to liven up a simple green salad, we also use it in other ways at Sabzi that I’m glad to share with you now. I’d certainly recommend making a large quantity of this and keeping it in the fridge; it will stay fresh for at least a fortnight.
Here are a few ways that we use Sabzi’s House Dressing:
Use on shredded slaws with the juice of a fresh lemon or orange and plenty of fresh parsley or dill.
Make a version of the classic French ‘petit pois à la française’; sweat off leeks and bacon lardons, add plenty of frozen peas and some garlic, a little good stock to reduce, lots of black pepper and a big handful of parsley. When ready to serve, stir through a glug of this lovely dressing for a delicious, simple side dish to compliment your main course.
Roast off some local cabbages and courgettes with lemon and garlic. Stir through some delicious butterbeans, lots of your favourite fresh herbs and some of this gorgeous dressing. A generous grating of Parmesan and you’ve got a wonderful lunch dish ready to go!
If you’re cooking off a load of green veg to accompany a roast, try dressing with this along with a drizzle of some delicious olive oil, rather than the classic butter we often automatically add to our boiled/steamed vegetables. It will add a refreshing tang to your veggies!
Variations on this dressing are also easy to achieve:
Swap out the agave nectar for honey for added rich flavour
Add half a clove of minced garlic for a delicious, aromatic layer of flavour – a pinch of chilli works well too
Grate in a generous serving of parmesan and shake to incorporate into the dressing
Add a dollop of crème fraîche or mascarpone for a creamy play on this classic flavour
Swap the white wine vinegar for balsamic if you’d like this dressing to be particularly suited to tomatoes
Ingredients
Makes 400ml dressing
• 50g Dijon mustard
• 55ml white wine vinegar
• 50ml agave nectar
• 180ml your chosen oil; a high quality rapeseed oil works really well and has half the saturated oil of olive.
• Plenty of salt and pepper
Method
I’d recommend putting all of your ingredients into a large jam jar before shaking thoroughly to combine. You can also use a mixing bowl and whisk, particularly if you’re making amendments to the recipe as suggested above.