Sara’s Shallot-Walnut Salad Dressing
Denise Landis is the founder & CEO of The Cook's Cook.
This recipe is featured in The Lazy Cook's Salad Dressing Marinade
This recipe for shallot-walnut salad dressing is the creation of Sara Grinspoon, a speech therapist in Newton, Massachusetts. It’s a recipe that is easily adjusted to taste. The walnut oil is optional, but Sara recommends it for the balance of flavor and the consistency it adds to the chilled dressing. It also makes a nice marinade for lamb, with or without the walnut oil.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons minced shallot
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) red wine vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 158 ml (2/3 cup) extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons walnut oil (optional)
Preparation
- In a mixing bowl or mason jar, combine the shallots, mustard, vinegar, and a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Whisk or cover and shake to blend well.
2. Add the olive oil and walnut oil, if using. Whisk or shake again to emulsify. Adjust salt and pepper as needed, and whisk or shake once more. Lasts about a week covered and refrigerated.
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Denise Landis
Denise Landis had been employed as an archeologist for seven years before a food editor hired her to test some recipes from a cookbook manuscript. This short stint led to longer assignments, and two years later she began testing recipes for the New York Times. She has been a professional recipe tester and editor for over 25 years, is the author of a New York Times cookbook, and has written for numerous publications. She is a member of the New York Chapter of Les Dames d’ Escoffier.
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Hello, why aren’t chopped walnuts included in this recipe?
You’ve made a good point: without the optional walnut oil, it will be a shallot dressing! Still delicious, but not the same. With or without the walnut oil, if you like walnuts, do add chopped walnuts to your salad. If you don’t have walnut oil but want to flavor the salad dressing with walnut, use a mortar and pestle (or a plastic bag and rolling pin) to finely crush one or two walnut meats into a paste, then add to the dressing.