Restaurant-Good Salad Dressing - LEMON MAPLE VINAIGRETTE

Why is it that salads from restaurants always taste better than when you make them at home?

When I order a salad from a restaurant, it always tastes so refreshing. 

I always wonder why I don't have more salads at home.  Lettuce, Tomatoes & Croutons.  Simple right?

But somehow, when I make one at home, it just doesn't hit the spot like it does when I'm sitting in a booth someplace and paying 5 times what it would cost if I made it at home. 

This makes me mad, and I'm not going to take it anymore.

So here it is, my version of a Restaurant-Good salad.

Dressing:
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. Real Maple Syrup (not pancake syrup)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Salad:
Heart of Romaine Lettuce (no substitutes)
Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half
Dried cranberries (Craisins)
Mini Croutons
White cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes


The beauty of this salad dressing is there are only 6 ingredients.

Have you ever counted the ingredients on a salad dressing bottle that's in your refrigerator?

Go on, check it out and see for yourself.  I'll wait.

In case you don't want to get up, it will probably look something like this one:

Xanthan Gum!  What the?

Disodium Inosinate?

Who comes up with this stuff?

Side Note:  when I looked up the word Disodium Inosinate online, this was the definition:
chemical formula C10H11N4Na2O8P, is the disodium salt of inosinic acid. It is a food additive often found in instant noodles, potato chips, and a variety of other snacks. It is used as a flavor enhancer, in synergy with monosodium glutamate  to provide the umami taste.

Oh ok, now I understand!  That cleared up everything.

Why can't things be simple? 

Simple is good.

Simple is good for ya.

So let's get started with a restaurant-good salad with good for ya Lemon Maple Vinaigrette Dressing.

Get out your handy dandy home-made salad dressing bottle.  If you don't have one, any ole glass container will do that has a nice tight fitting lid.  Maybe a Mason jar, or even an old salsa jar that you've rinsed out really well of course. 

Once you start making this salad dressing, trust me, you're going to want to get a nice glass salad dressing bottle. Like one of those Good Seasons Salad Dressing bottles they sell at the grocery store.

Take your garlic cloves and mash them really well onto a cutting board or in a wooden bowl.  Mash it together with the Kosher salt.  Now scoop all of that salty garlic goodness into your glass container.

Take your lemon, and be sure to roll it around on the counter, while gently pressing it down with the palm of your hand. This gets it all juicy and easy to squeeze out every last drop.  Once you are done pressing and rolling, you will notice the feel of the lemon is much softer and will be easier to juice.

Into your glass container with the garlic and salt, pour in your vegetable oil, juice of your lemon (watch out for seeds) and pepper.

Ok, now for the maple syrup.  Be sure you buy REAL MAPLE SYRUP and not the kind you pour on your kids pancakes.  The real McCoy.  Mine looks like this:

Now shake shake shake.  Shake Shake Shake.  Shake your Vinaigrette.

Now for the salad itself.  My preference for a really good salad is Hearts of Romaine lettuce.

I get them in a bag of three, and personally I like to cut the lettuce with a knife into small pieces. 

Pet Peeve of mine is a salad where the lettuce is in big chunks. So I cut the lettuce, but feel free to "gently tear" the lettuce, like all the fancy Chefs do.

Get yourself a nice large bowl, put in your cut (or torn) lettuce, throw in a handful of Craisins, Pecans, sliced grape tomatoes, sliced white cheddar cheese and a handful of mini-croutons (again a preference. I like the mini croutons). Feel free to add your favorite salad fixings instead of the one's I mentioned.

Drizzle your Restaurant-Good salad dressing over the top, and toss toss toss.  Toss toss toss.  Be sure to get everything all coated so each bite is better than the one before.

And if you are lucky enough to have a nice chunk of crusty bread, go ahead and dip it right into that dressing.  Why I do believe, you'll think you're sitting in a booth in some restaurnt, eating the best salad you've ever tasted.

 

Cookie Monster Cookies - Peanut Butter, Oatmeal & Chocolate

Cookie Monster from Sesame Street has very strict requirements for his cookie consumption don't ya know.

His cookies have to be BIG (he has very big hands of course).

They have to be perfectly round.

And most of all they have to be delicious, because they are eaten very quickly (preferably with crumbs flying everywhere) and only a delicious cookie can be eaten quickly.

Isn't that right Cookie Monster?

Warning: These cookies are meant for Large Cookie Monster-Like Hands. 

They are large, perfectly round, and gobble-up delicious.  Just ask my very close friend. C.M., he'll tell ya.

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1 c plus 2 Tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed

3 eggs

2 c. peanut butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp. light corn syrup

4 1/2 c. uncooked rolled oats

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, cream butter.  Gradually add sugars, beating until fluffy.

Add eggs and peanut butter.

Cookie Monster has such big hands, he can not help me with the Peanut Butter portion, because this is where I use my infamous Mini-Spoonula to scoop out the peanut butter.

Then add vanilla and corn syrup.  Mix well.

Stir in oats, baking soda, salt and chips. This is where you might need Cookie Monster's big hands (or the like) to help you stir.

Batter will be stiff, so I use my wooden spoon...I mean Cookie Monster uses his wooden spoon,  to be sure and get everything all combined.

Be sure to get all the oats and mini chocolate chips combined with the peanut butter mixture.

Now comes the fun part.

Spray your cookie sheet with Pam. (That's not the fun part, what's coming up is the fun part).

Take your 1/4 c. measuring cup and fill it with dough (this is where I like to spray just a wee bit of Pam inside the measuring cup, so the cookie dough flops out perfectly onto the cookie sheet).

Since my measuring cup is a little on the "square side" you will need to gently pat down the dough so it becomes a 3 inch round circle. 

Cookie Monster will only eat perfectly round cookies, so remember that. Very important.

Space cookie dough 4 inches apart.  These suckers grow in the oven to become the ultimate Cookie Monster Cookie.

Bake for 12 minutes.  Be sure they do not get brown around the edges.

Wow, look how they grew in the oven.

Perfect size Cookie Monster Cookies. Please note, those are NOT Cookie Monsters hand below.



They turn out perfectly round, perfectly big, and wonderfully delicious!

Everyone has a cookie monster in their house. 

Could that cookie monster be you?