Heirloom Tomatoes with Green Goddess Dressing | Farmers Market Dinner Party

Heirloom Tomatoes - Cherry & Big

Heirloom Tomatoes with Green Goddess Dressing
Part of my Farmer's Market Themed Menu

I've mentioned before that I had always been a little intimated by homemade salad dressings.  I started experimenting with vinaigrettes and found them to be so simple and so, so, so much better than store-bought dressings.  I had yet to attempt a creamy dressing until I came across the tempting Green Goddess...

Green Goddess dressing is a sour cream based dressing jazzed up with fresh chives, basil and garlic.  Basically a homemade ranch dressing + basil.  I love that the basil turns the dressing a pale green color - must be where the name originates!

Lemon Vinaigrette with Spring Salad

Once you start making dressings from scratch, you'll never buy another bottle of preservative (and expensive!) packed dressing.  It is so simple- you probably already have everything you need at home.  It took me 3 years of cooking to get around to making dressing from scratch... I thought it was too much of a hassle, or difficult, or... well, involved.  I was wrong - so, so easy.  I highly, HIGHLY recommend it.

You can make this dressing in a bowl, and whisk it together with a fork, or make it in a jar and shake it up.  The recipe is very versatile - add parmesan cheese, fresh herbs (basil or thyme would be great), minced garlic, and/or sugar/honey for a sweeter dressing.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/2 cup of white wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon of sea salt (give or take)
1/2 tablespoon of fresh cracked pepper (give or take)
1/2 cup of olive oil

Start with vinegar, lemon, dijon, salt & pepper.  Mix it together, then drizzle in olive oil while whisking.

Spring Salad Recipe :

4 cups of field greens
2 cups of fresh spinach
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, sliced
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 small red onion, sliced
parmesan cheese
lemon vinaigrette (recipe above)

In a bowl, add greens, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and cheese.  Toss with vinaigrette.  Chill for 10 minutes (if possible) and serve.

Recipes | Seared Cod with a Lemon Shallot Sauce & Avocado Tomato Salad with Greed Goddess Dressing

Last week I made a light and easy dinner with really fresh ingredients.

We started with this salad :

Green Goddess Dressing

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

1/4 cup of fresh basil

1 tablespoon of fresh chives

Romaine

Tomatoes

Avocado

Fresh Pecorino Ramano Cheese

Salt & Pepper

For the entree...

1 pound of cod fish fillet

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 shallot, sliced

1 lemon : 1/2 sliced, 1/2 juiced

1/4 of white wine

2 tablespoons of butter

Salt & Pepper

In a skillet, cook the fish in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the remaining olive oil and garlic, shallots and lemon slices. Saute for 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and reduce for about 3-5 minutes (on medium low). At the end, stir in the butter and season. Place the fish back in the sauce to warm.

Recipes | Garden Dressing

I prepared this creamy and tangy salad dressing at my Farmers Market Workshop and Cooking Class at A Thyme for Everything.  To see all of the photos and recipes, click here!  Photos are courtesy of Andrew Doak.

Garden Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup green onions

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 teaspoons garlic

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup sour cream

3 heads Bibb lettuce

Place the mayonnaise, scallions, basil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a 

blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the sour cream and process just until blended.

I serve the salad dressing on buttery bibb lettuce with fresh tomatoes.