Honey-Mustard Dressing

Splash this bright honey-mustard dressing over a salad made with lettuce, grated carrots, and one or more of the following: raisins, apples, walnuts, or pecans. You'll have a restaurant-quality side in minutes for a fraction of the restaurant-expensive cost.

Making your own salad dressing is a quick way to up the goodness of a meal. You'll get more flavor than with bottled dressings, with no artificial flavors, emulsifiers, or preservatives. Use local honey to support your community beekeepers. Thin this thick dressing with tap water instead of using energy and extra packaging to ship water cross-country.

Active time: three minutes. Total time: three minutes. Serves 5.

Recipe ingredients

1/4 cup prepared mustard (60 grams), such as Whole Food Market's 365 Organic German Mustard
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (30 grams), such as Spectrum Natural's Organic Unpasturized Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons water (30 grams)
2 tablespoons honey (42 grams)

Recipe method

1. Mix all ingredients in a small glass jar or other non-reactive container. (Vinegar reacts with aluminum, cast iron, and copper, giving the dressing an unpleasant metal taste.) Stir or shake to mix.
2. Refrigerate any extra. This dressing keeps for weeks.

Recipe tips and notes

• Cost notes: one recipe costs $1.04 for 5 servings or 20 cents a serving. Eight ounces costs $1.43. Bottled, store-brand organic honey-mustard dressing costs $2.69 for eight ounces. (This recipe uses local honey, not organic honey, for reasons given in the Scrimp or Splurge chapter of Wildly Affordable Organic.) It's hard to compare prices for just the dressing at a restaurant, but an organic salad with an apple-vinaigrette dressing costs $7.95 at one of my favorite local restaurants.
• Other uses: Try this honey-mustard dressing in a rice salad, over cooked vegetables, or as a marinade.
• Variation: Use balsamic vinegar for a sweeter, mellower dressing that also costs a bit more.