This Salad Dressing Hack Brings on the Flavor in an Unexpected Way
While premade salad dressings from the store are extremely convenient, they don’t always have the most complex or freshest flavor. A homemade tangy ranch dressing and a creamy Thousand Island always add a brightness to salads that bottled varieties just can’t.
That said, though, it can be challenging to come up with a new or inventive dressing to make our lunchtime salads more appetizing. This clever hack from Gillie Houston, however, puts flavor at the forefront of any dressing.
In a TikTok video, Houston prepares a salad recipe that’s gotten rave reviews from her boyfriend. The salad consists of chopped green leaf lettuce coated in a dressing made from pistachio and lemon.
@gilliehouston My bf says this was one of the best salads I’ve ever made and I make *a lot* of salads (!!) (Not pictured: The garlic butter chicken thighs I served with it 😌) #saladrecipe #easyrecipe #healthyrecipe #saladsoftiktok #cookinginspo ♬ Cruel Summer – Taylor Swift
The lemon component of the dressing, however, isn’t just a squeeze of juice or a sprinkle of zest. Houston sears slices of lemon in a skillet until lightly browned, finely dices them into a paste (remove the seeds!), and mixes them with chopped toasted pistachios, grated garlic, honey and olive oil to make the dressing. The entirety of the lemon — including the rind, zest, and membrane — are all used, but they meld into the overall sweet and tangy mixture.