I’ve been experimenting with this mix over time, and frankly am pretty pleased with this version. It’s a way to make Italian dressing – but you can do a lot more with it (thus the Plus). Best of all, you can mix it with spices and ingredients you probably have lying around the house.
First you need these ingredients.
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon dried, ground thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 tsp salt
Take all the ingredients and mix them together in a jar or other container (preferably the one you’ll keep it in). If you have a mortar and pestle it’s even better as you can crush things together, but I just mix them together and crush them a bit with the back of a spoon. I probably need a mortar and pestle to be a cool cook.
To make dressing, just blend 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil (or another oil), 1 teaspoon of White Wine or Rice Wine Vinegar, and 1/2 tablespoon of the mix. It’s best when you put it in a container, shake it, and let it sit in a refrigerator for awhile so the flavors blend. Shake again before you serve.
This is a bit high in fat (olive oil, after all), but delicious. It also goes far – it’s usually enough for a good 2 or so cups of vegetables. I particularly like it on baby spinach, tomatoes, and broccoli – and diced tomatoes on spinach.
If you want more, merely scale it up. You can try other vinegars, but I like these ones.
However there’s more you can do . . .
Italian Potatoes
- Preheat your oven to 425.
- Take a potato and cut it into eights (basically you’re making steak fries). Spray them with olive oil and place them in a pan. Sprinkle with the dressing powder and cook for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Turn potatoes over and spray again. Sprinkle with more of the mix to get the other side coated.
- Return to the oven. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until crispy, but relatively soft when you poke them with a fork.
- Serve.
This is a great side dish or even main course (potatoes are pretty good protein-wise). I’ve tried it as both and liked it both times.
Dip
This is one I’m still experimenting with, but it shows promise.
Take 1/2 cup of plain yogurt or light sour cream and mix in 1 tsp of the mix. Blend thoroughly and let it sit in the refrigerator (covered) for about an hour. Remix and serve with vegetables or crackers.
So there you go. One mix, easy to make, three different uses.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.