Bobby Flay's Finishing Touch For Better Vinaigrettes

Vinaigrettes are essential for any great-tasting salad. But, while they can easily elevate the flavors of your favorite greens, they certainly work wonders as a marinade too. Thanks to their acidity, they can brighten the flavor profile of just about any dish, from savory meats to fresh veggies and everything in between. Aromatic vinaigrettes are typically made with just a handful of ingredients, including a base of oil and vinegar as well as various seasonings. This makes them relatively easy to whip up at home, so long as you follow chef Bobby Flay's lead and make your dressing in a blender — not shaken or stirred.

Whether you prefer a basic sherry wine vinaigrette recipe or something more enticing, such as a blueberry or chipotle honey vinaigrette, using a blender is certainly a faster way to combine all of your ingredients — no tedious chopping, dicing, or whisking required. And, according to the celebrity chef, pureeing your ingredients in a blender also makes for a creamier dressing because it helps to emulsify the ingredients together better.

It's no secret that oil and water don't mix, and the same can be said for oil and vinegar — the two primary components of any good vinaigrette recipe. If you don't effectively combine the ingredients, a process that's better known as emulsifying, they won't stick together very well. If, for example, you're using the vinaigrette as a dressing, it would make for one rather unappetizing salad because you may get one mouthful of oily greens and another that tastes incredibly acidic. 

This is where the blender comes in. As Flay shares, the mighty mixing machines aren't just good for making pina coladas — you can also use them to make a far creamier and tastier dressing in seconds. The blender's blades help by whipping air into the dressing, which mixes the ingredients quickly and more effectively without them separating. "It looks like you actually put some cream in it or something but, in fact, it's just the air," he says (per YouTube). 

Using a blender isn't Flay's only preferred method of making a tasty dressing. He's also a fan of mixing salad dressing ingredients directly into a nearly empty mustard jar, too. Granted, you'll have to do a bit of vigorous shaking to combine the ingredients, but on the flip side — you won't have to dirty a whisk and mixing bowl. Plus, the DIY container helps to add the most delicious Dijon-y flavor to your tasty concoction.

But, no matter which way you decide to prepare your dressing, it's important to note that Bobby Flay never dresses salad greens directly, and for good reason. Instead of pouring his vinaigrette directly onto the greens, which can cause them to wilt under all of that zesty liquid, he gently folds it in with his hands after pouring it around the sides of the salad bowl. Alternatively, you could also just pour your dressing directly into the bowl first and then carefully mix your greens and other veggies right on top.