Wanna Join the Dressing Game??

I realize I talk about the weather quite a bit. That’s because I have to endure mostly cold, usually unpredictable weather 8 of the 12 months. It’s something I’m still adjusting to, even though I’ve lived in the Northwest for 3 years (plus almost the same amount of time in DK). I grew up in the desert Southwest and the forecast was basically hot or really hot. If it rained, people would talk about it for days or even years. Same thing in sunny California where the day-to-day temperatures usually didn’t fluctuate more than a few degrees. But the weather up here is just weird, and Mother Nature is being particularly fickle this year. One day it’s 75 and sunny, then the next day we’re down to 52 and raining. We recently had 3 days of intense, almost miserable heat, and now we’re back down to the 60’s and raining. It’s the end of May and I’m afraid to pack away my winter clothes.

The two things I was looking forward to this spring is the return of warm weather (still waiting, but the coming week looks promising) and my local farmers' market. The market started in April, but the offerings have been limited. I think the cold spring we’ve had has taken a toll on the local farms. It doesn’t even seem like there are as may vendors this year. I hope they come back when the weather gets consistently warm. The only consolation is that the quality of the offerings is top notch. For the last 3 weekends I’ve been coming home with loads of wonderful lettuce, which means we’ve been eating salads instead of a proper vegetable with our meals. Sometimes we just eat salad. How's that for fast food?

With all the greenery we're eating, I'm looking for ways to keep it interesting. I’ve started playing a game of sorts where I try to come up with a different dressing every few days. I'd like to see how long I can go without buying a commercial dressing. Sonny even wanted to get in on it. He suggested we try making a Nutella dressing. Since we don’t have Nutella, it was easy enough to shoot down that idea. Instead we came up with a dressing using peanut butter and honey that we both could agree on. Thank goodness.

So, wanna join the dressing game? Got any good ideas? Please share them in the comments and link back to yourself so I can find it!

Have you ever seen such beautiful baby lettuce?

Peanut vinaigrette
makes about 1/2 cup

• 1 tbs smooth peanut butter
• 1 tbs honey
• 3 to 4 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tbs thin soy sauce (regular soy sauce is fine)
• 1 tsp curry powder or garam masala (use good quality, finely ground or the dressing will be gritty!)
  
• 1 small clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• about 1/3 cup peanut oil or other neutral oil (but not olive oil)

In a large bowl, whisk all the ingredients, except the peanut oil, until smooth. Taste the mixture. Adjust the flavor according to your taste. Then slowly add the oil while whisking vigorously to incorporate it. You may not need to add all the oil. Taste after 1/4 cup and if it's okay to you, you're done!

We've had this dressing a few times: atop baby lettuce with grilled beef; as a dressing for cold soba noodles; as a dip for crudites.

If you're looking for some tasty ways to dress your greens, you may be interested in this spicy Caesar dressing or this tangy dressing for the classic Chinese-American chicken salad.