Has there ever been a time where you actually smacked yourself upside the head? This was my *doh* moment.
Thousand islands salad dressing: ubiquitous, popular, familiar, and most purchased. I'm not embarrassed to admit that it's my first choice to dress a garden salad. I've always loved it, ever since I was a kid.
Over at my regular blog, Gotta Little Space, I have a 100 Things To Make list, and on that list is thousand islands dressing. So a few days ago I decided there's no time like the present and I just did it. And that was my *doh* moment. Because in less than five minutes I'd whipped up a homemade version of thousand islands dressing that was just as familiar as Kraft.
Except...except I made it with ingredients everyone has in their kitchen, and without the unpronounceable mystery ingredients listed on the product page of Kraft's website, for example:
SOYBEAN OIL, TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), VINEGAR, SUGAR, CHOPPED PICKLES, SALT, WATER, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF XANTHAN GUM, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, LACTIC ACID, DRIED ONIONS, CITRIC ACID, POLYSORBATE 60, PROPYLENE GLYCOL ALGINATE, SPICE, MUSTARD FLOUR, VITAMIN E, NATURAL FLAVOR, OLEORESIN TURMERIC.
I took the liberty of researching a few of the strange phrases for you - if you click on the links it will take you to a description of what they really are. My question is this: if it's this easy to make my own, minus those wonky ingredients, why the heck have I been buying it for so long?? What about you, what's your best *doh* moment?
Thousand Islands Salad Dressing
Recipezaar
Makes 3/4 cup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish or chopped pickles
1 teaspoon finely minced white onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
few grindings black pepper, to taste
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir well to combine and refrigerate several hours, stirring occasionally, to allow sugar to dissolve and flavors to marry.
I can't tell you how many "doh" moments I've had over the years. There are so many things we are accustomed to buying ready made that really are simple and quick to make from scratch! Good for you Rina!
ReplyDeleteI like homemade Thousand Island dressing. I also add to it 1 hardboiled egg that has been chopped lightly with a fork.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Nancy
Thank you, thank you for sharing this great recipe. I'll give this a try. It'll be great not to eat all those "wonky" ingredients from Kraft, eh?
ReplyDeleteActually xanthan and guar gums are used by vegetarians/vegan's to help thicken smoothies etc.
ReplyDeleteMy son loves Thousand Island Dressing! I will have to try this.
ReplyDeleteGreat recipe! I've had plenty of doh! moments. Too many to count. I've made jarred minced garlic instead of buying it, spreadable butter, pickles, saltine crackers, candles, laundry detergent, hand soap, febreeze, and wrinkle releaser. My next task is to make fried mozarella sticks.
ReplyDeleteThis dressing sounds fantastic. I've had too many "doh" moments to describe here. Trust me; you don't have enough room on your blog for all of my moments haha.
ReplyDeleteI'm bookmarking this recipe.
fabulous recipe!! so glad I found your site!
ReplyDelete- passthecayennepepper.com
This is awesome. You don't know how many times I've made a salad only to discover we are out of my favorite dressing--1000 islands!! And tonight I just whipped some up. Awesome. I used Epicure's 3-onion dip mix instead of the minced white onion, making it super easy!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good recipe! I used the salad greens from my garden and other organic veggies. I added a clove of garlic, a boiled egg, and a 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce to it...it added a bit of kick...AWE-SOME!!! Thank you so much! This is definitely a keeper!!!
ReplyDeletei just bought a bottle of thousand island dressing to make taco salad and as i was adding it to my cart i thought to myself, i bet there is a recipe for this somewhere!!! i am thinking that more and more these days. i love to make things from scratch. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteEven though it's a great recipe there is still unpronounceable mystery ingredients, as they can be found in mayonnaise and ketchup. so real "doh" moment would come from making those from scratch as well.
ReplyDeleteHomemade mayo and ketchup are super easy too. I've made both but need to perfect my ketchup. Ketchup takes a lot of time (for truly homemade, not with tomato paste) but mayo is a cinch...but then to be truly homemade, we'd have to grow and process the tomatoes, the sugar cane (or the bee hives)the olives from the tree, not to mention grow the lemons or make the apple cider vinegar ourselves, raise the chickens, drain the whey (from our homemade yogurt or cheese,etc....Do the best we can with what we have, don't stop learning, and leave the rest to God. Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteYummy, thank you.. bookmarked, perfect ratios.
ReplyDeletePreservatives scare the crap out of me. Do my family and I eat them daily -sure. That's my doh moment. Our bodies do not know how to break them down nor what to do with them. Bad news....how does mayo from scratch last a few weeks, but from hellmans/cains or stores last months and months....sitting warm in a plastic container on the grocery shelf ....
Great Recipe, I live overseas and I cant live without my 1000, so try this when you are short of stores. the ratios are 1/2 white, 1/3 red and 1/6 everything to taste. but Mayo or your yogurt or whatever, for white, Ketchup or paste or even a ground hand smashed tomato for red, then anything close to a full italian oil and vinegar and spices salad dressing, or make your own, stir it up, you are there. Got to have 1000 and its all around you. I do agree, if the name is not pronuouncable and/or ends in "ate" do not eat it.
ReplyDelete