Hello!
I am Rich Harris, and in this episode of my Back to Basics series for VideoJug I am going
to be showing you how to make a simple salad, which is all based around the perfect vinaigrette.
[music] Whether you are a seasoned cook or a complete
beginner, it is essential to know how to make a perfect vinaigrette because it is so versatile
and can be used in so many different ways.
So I am going to show the basics of it and then you can adapt that how you choose.
So the first thing is some Dijon mustard.
And the mustard, as well as adding a bit of peppery heat, is going to help to emulsify
all the other ingredients.
Next up, a little pinch of castor sugar.
It may seem a bit odd to put sugar in something that is savory, but actually it works really
well and it helps to bring out the natural sweetness of the vinegar and the oils.
The perfect vinaigrette is all about balance, so an ideal thing to aim for is one part acid
-- so you are looking at something like vinegar or lemon juice - to three parts oil.
So I am going to use a sherry vinegar because I think have a really lovely, sweet flavor
and works really well with chicken.
So one tablespoon of that.
And next up, the oil and I am using vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons of that.
And finally one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and that is going to add a lovely
peppery kick.
For a full list of ingredients check out the description box.
Next up, a bit of seasoning -- so some salt and a bit of black pepper.
[pepper grinding] Just give it a whisk and just keep going until
it is all emulsified.
And it should be quite thick, a little bit looser than mayonnaise but just have a lovely
pouring consistency.
And because this dressing is quite thick, it is going to coat all of your salad ingredients
beautifully.
So there you go, that is your basic vinaigrette...
And you can change or adapt that in so many different ways.
For example, you could use some grain mustard, you could use balsamic vinegar instead, or
you can add some spices and herbs.
Really kind of jazz it up a bit.
But, if you use that as your basic template, the world is your oyster.
For my chicken salad, I want to incorporate some herbs into the dressing.
So I have some fresh chives here and some tarragon, and tarragon has a lovely aniseed
flavor that goes really, really well with chicken.
So for the chives, just bunch them up and finely chop them.
So just scoop those up and add them straight to the dressing.
And next up, the tarragon leaves.
Take the leaves and just bunch them up tightly and finely chop.
[chopping] And as you chop, you get a great waft of all
that lovely aniseed flavor.
Put that straight in and just give it a stir to combine.
[stirring] Now that the herb dressing is made, it is
time to assemble the salad.
And there are a few little tips along the way of how to actually dress a salad and assemble
it.
So I am just going to show you them now.
First up, the salad leaves.
So the idea is to have just a very, very light coating on the leaves.
So just add maybe a couple of spoonfuls.
Just get your hands in there.
So that's perfect.
The leaves are still falling apart really nicely, but they are not overdressed.
Pop it into your bowl.
Dressing the leaves in a salad is a bit where you have to be the most careful.
It is really, really easy to over dress them.
But with something like tomatoes, it is a bit easier.
I think with lovely tomatoes like this, the best thing is to just cut them in half and
this cut surface will actually soak up a lot of the dressing.
And just pop them straight in the bowl and just give them a stir to coat.
[stirring] Once they have a lovely coating of the dressing,
just spoon them over the salad.
Incidentally, it is really important to dress things at the last minute because there is
acid in that vinaigrette, it has a tendency to kind of attack the salad leaves and that
is what can make them get really wilted.
So, make sure you dress everything right at the last minute.
And finally I have some char-grilled chicken.
This has just been char-grilled really simply and it is still warm.
If you are going to use something like chicken in a salad, serve it slightly warm and actually
what that will do is it will soak up more of the dressing as it cools down.
So just cut the chicken into bite-sized slices, add a handful to the dressing, and just give
it a bit of a stir and a toss to combine.
Scoop up the chicken and scatter it over the top.
So there we have it!
My simple chicken salad with a perfect vinaigrette.
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I hope you have enjoyed this recipe and I look forward to seeing you back in my kitchen
again soon for another episode of my Back to Basics series.