Salad Dressings: Live, Love, & Eat in Sayulita

Enjoy Your Salads More in Sayulita with Homemade Salad Dressing! 

One of my most favorite things to eat in Sayulita is salad with homemade salad dressing. Before I learnt that salad dressings are so easy to make, I used to use bottled dressing. But, guess what? I never finished my salad. Then I discovered homemade salad dressings, and now I always finish my salads! So, today I thought that I would share my two most favorite salad dressings: Caesar and Hollyhocks's Engivita Yeast. These dressings are sure to impress your Sayulita friends and family too!

CAESAR SALAD DRESSING

One of my dearest friends, Chezy, made a caesar salad for dinner one night, and I have to tell you that it is definitely the best and easiest Caesar salad dressing I have ever tasted! So, here is Chezy’s recipe, and honestly, it will forever be your Caesar salad dressing.

Ingredients: 

-1 egg yolk - Chezy uses the whole egg, but I prefer the thickness that just using the yolk gives

-1T lemon juice - Fresh squeezed

-1tsp garlic - A tip is to finely mince the garlic, add a bit of crushed salt, and then mash with the flat side of a knife until your texture is a smooth paste

-1/4 tsp dry mustard (mostaza in espanol) - Sana Spices sells it at Sayulita's Friday Mercado del Pueblo or you can contact Oksana, the owner, to place an order

-1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce - Be sure to shake the bottle before measuring

-4T olive oil

Method: 

Add all ingredients except the olive oil to your blender and blend untill well combined

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil

There it is - Delicious! 

For your salad, use nice, fresh romaine lettuce. Don Rodolfo in Sayulita always has romaine lettuce. If you don't see it out, ask because there is usually a nice crisp bag in their cooler. Sayulita's Friday Mercado del Pueblo also sells a great assortment of greens. I like finely grated parmesan or asiago cheese tossed with my lettuce and dressing. Most people add croutons, but honestly, I don't think that they enhance the salad at all, so I never use them.

HOLLYHOCK'S ENGIVITA YEAST SALAD DRESSING

I went out to lunch one day in British Columbia and ordered a nice big salad for lunch. It was filled with a lot of goodies - organic greens, grated fresh carrots and beets, mung bean or lentil sprouts, and all tossed with the most delicious salad dressing. I asked if they might share the dressing recipe and they brought me a copy of this dressing I am about to share with you. There is a very unusual ingredient in it, Engivita or sometimes called Nutritional yeast .

What is Engivita (Nutritional Yeast)? 

Wikipedia says "Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast, often a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is sold commercially as a food product. It is sold in the form of flakes or as a yellow powder and can be found in the bulk aisle of most natural food stores. It is popular with vegans and vegetarians and may be used as an ingredient in recipes or as a condiment.It is a significant source of some B-complex vitamins, and contains trace amounts of several other vitamins and minerals. Sometimes nutritional yeast is fortified with vitamin B12.
Nutritional yeast has a strong flavor that is described as nutty, cheesy, or creamy, which makes it popular as an ingredient in cheese substitutes."

Terrenal, here in Sayulita, sells Engivita yeast in flake form. If they don’t have it in stock, please ask them because they are happy to order it in for you.

Ingredients: 

-1/3 cup water

-1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

-1/3 cup soya sauce

-2 Cloves garlic - minced and mashed as in Caesar salad dressing 

-1/2 cup Engivita yeast

1-1&1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil 

Method:

Combine all above ingredients except for the yeast in blender and blend until well combined

Add yeast and blend again

With blender running, add olive oil slowly - up to 1&1/2 cups. I use less oil - usually around one cup. When thickened, it is enough oil. Because this is a very flavorful dressing, add a tablespoon or so to your organic greens, toss well, and taste. Add more as needed. 

Great for Multiple Uses!

This dressing is great as a veggie dip for the wonderful carrots and cucumbers we can buy in all the tiendas here in Sayulita. It stores for a long time in a bottle in the fridge. I like to recycle glass bottles and use them to bottle my dressings. 

I am sure that you will love these delicious dressings as much as I do!

Last week my husband and I were visiting our favorite inland city in Mexico, Guanajuato. The proprietor at our B&B made us the most delicious breakfast. I asked him for the recipe so make sure you check in for my next column. It is rich, decadent, and oh so simple to make to enjoy in Sayulita!