The best Russian Dressing

I discovered how to make the best Russian dressing completely by accident one day when I was trying to save time and decided to use my microplane grater on the onion instead of chopping it finely, which is what I normally do.  And the way that the microplane-grated onion infuses the entire dressing is just really magical if you have a fresh, sweet onion.  The recipe calls for a tablespoon of the grated onion but it takes a pretty good amount of onion to get that much so make sure you have at least quarter or half of an onion to work with.  

Russian Dressing
adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

1 cup mayonnaise 
1/2 cup ketchup 
2 Tbs red or white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp dry mustard (or a little prepared mustard if you don't have dry)  
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste  
1 tablespoon onion (that has been grated using a microplane)

Wisk together all ingredients except the grated onion. Add 1/2 tablespoon of the onion and taste.  If you have a strong tasting onion, that may be all you want to add.  But if you have a nice fresh, sweet onion, you can add the full tablespoon. Wisk until smooth.  If it's too thick, you can thin it with some ketchup or vinegar.  

To make this into thousand island dressing, add pickle relish to taste. 

Mark Bittman recommends using this as a sandwich topping (mmmm... Reubens!) but I really like it as a dip for cut up raw vegetables.  I also eat it all the time on green salads, especially when we have Romaine Lettuce and I'd prefer a creamy dressing.

This lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge if you don't eat it all first!

Asparagus Two Ways

Asparagus with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

So every year I wait very patiently for asparagus to come into season and then we cook it all the time.   Asparagus soup, fried asparagus, roasted asparagus, asparagus with eggs, steamed asparagus with vinaigrette...  My husband and I usually eat a full pound each when we make it for dinner. By the end of the season, I feel like I never want to see a spear of asparagus ever again.  But then inevitably, when February comes around again, I am dying to see the fresh stuff come into the grocery stores.

This year has been an epic failure.  I waited and waited but kept seeing the regular old low quality stuff from Mexico coming in week after week.  I kept thinking, "Wow, the season must be very late this year!"  Until a couple of weeks ago I finally e mailed my brother in California to find out if they were having asparagus season out there.  It turns out, it was already OVER.  But I will not let a spring go by without asparagus so I bought a whole bunch and got cooking.  I'm probably not going to get sick of it this year but, oh well, there is always next year!   

Here are two ways I like to dress 2 pounds of steamed asparagus. Both serve 4 regular people or 2 asparagus crazy adults.  

Walnut Oil Vinaigrette
adapted from Emeril

6 Tbsp walnut oil*
1/4 cup neutral tasting oil (such as canola, grapeseed, or light olive oil)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Optional garnishes: toasted walnuts, chopped fresh parsley.

Dump all the vinaigrette ingredients into a tupperware or glass jar with a tight fitting lid and shake.  Pour over asparagus and sprinkle with some more salt. That's pretty much it.

*Walnut oil is available at better grocery stores and at health food stores.  Refrigerate after opening.  



Mustard Mayo Sauce

1/4 cup Tbsp light or regular mayonnaise 
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Stir together all the ingredients.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Pour over the asparagus.  

This sauce tastes too strong on its own but is perfect on asparagus.