Salad dressings are a great way to get your daily intake of fresh vegetables more interesting, and more flavorful.

Learning how to make French dressing will teach you the basis of dressings made primarily from oil and vinegar, and flavored with other foods, herbs and/or spices.

French dressing is traditionally used on mixed green salads containing other raw vegetables, like tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, and sometimes nuts, seeds and fruit. French dressing can also be used as a dip for vegetables.http://www.real-restaurant-recipes.com/french-salad-dressing.html

French Dressing contains both olive oil and white or red wine vinegar. When these two main basic ingredients are thoroughly blended together using a blender, they emulsify to form a thick creamy paste which will cling to your greens perfectly. The traditional French salad dressing contains the following ingredients: 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/8 tablespoon of salt, black pepper to taste, and 1 tablespoon of wine vinegar, red or white.http://www.francethisway.com/frenchrecipes/frenchdressingrecipe.php

The addition of mustard, salt and pepper, and sometimes garlic and onions, gives the dressing a tangy flavor. The finished dressing becomes a perfect compliment to a green vegetable salad.

The dressing can be mixed by hand using a spoon or spatula, and a mixing bowl, but it is quicker and easier to use either a blender or an immersion blender.

• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• Tablespoon
• Teaspoon
• Grater (optional)
• Whisk
• 3/4 cup tomato juice, pure tomato juice, not V8http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/french_dressing.html
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, white vinegar, white wine vinegar, or champagne vinegarhttp://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/curtis-aikens/french-dressing-recipe/index.html
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 of a small white onion, finely chopped or finely grated with a grater
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup, or less to tastehttp://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/french-dressing-and-iceberg-lettuce-chopped-salad-recipe/index.html
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1. Place tomato juice (not V8), extra virgin olive oil, and cider vinegar or white vinegar or white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar into a mixing bowl. Mix well using a whisk.
2. Add Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and ketchup to the tomato juice mixture. Mix well.
3. Prepare and add 1/4 of a small white onion, sugar, and garlic to the tomato juice mixture. Mix well with a whisk and fully dissolve the sugar.
4. Season with fresh or dried thyme, salt, and black pepper to taste.
5. There is an option to place all of the ingredients into a blender and mix together.

If you are using a blender, simply blend the ingredients until you are presented with a thick creamy paste.

1. When hand mixing, you need to slowly add the olive oil, drop by drop and blend together with the vinegar mix.
2. Only add further oil when the previous drops are totally blended in.
3. You will find the mixture becoming thicker with each addition of oil.
4. When all the oil has been added you will end up with a creamy paste.

The dressing is now ready to spoon onto your salad. These types of dressing may be refridgerated in a capped bottle or container, for up to 3 days. The ingredients will have a tendency to separate, so ensure you shake the container well before using the dressing.