Food glossary

Dressing

Dressing

Dressings are an important part of any salad and add flavour as well as moisture. There are a wide variety of salad dressings available ranging from traditional French dressing with oil, vinegar and mustard to dressings flavoured with fresh herbs, lemons, limes, oranges or spices. Fresh and long life dressings are available.

There are four different ranges in the Waitrose fresh dressing selection, choose from standard eg Creamy garlic and herb or Mustard and honey; or Perfectly Balanced (low fat) eg Yogurt and mint, Lime and coriander or French; gourmet eg Caesar or Green pesto; or organic eg Balsamic vinegar and oregano or Extra virgin olive oil and lemon.

Uses: Salad dressings can be used not only to dress salad leaves, but also to add flavour to pasta, rice or potato salads. When choosing a dressing consider the type of leaves or ingredients to be dressed as well as the other parts of the meal, for example a herby dressing will go well with a green salad served with new potatoes and chicken but a spicy dressing served with a mixed salad may overpower a light meal of poached salmon.

To store: Keep fresh salads dressings in the fridge and use by the best before date. Unopened long life dressings should be kept in a cool, dry place and once opened stored in the fridge.

To use: For green and mixed salads, add the dressing just before serving. When adding the dressing, add just enough to coat the ingredients - too much dressing will make the leaves wilt. Pasta, rice and potato salads can be dressed a couple of hours before serving to allow the flavours to develop.