Tuesday, March 30, 2010

How Thicken My Italian Dressing

Italian dressing is a traditional salad topper made of oil, vinegar, lemon juice and a colorful selection of herbs and garden vegetables. It is very simple to thicken your Italian dressing using a common ingredient you probably have in your refrigerator right now. Whether your Italian dressing is freshly made or has been stored for a while and you just want a bit of a change from regular oily dressing, you can make a delicious thickened variety instead.


Instructions








1. Drop an eighth of a teaspoon of xanthan gum into your Italian dressing recipe (about 2 cups worth). Xanthan gum is a natural thickening agent similar to corn starch and found in health-food stores. If you check the back of a popular brand of creamy Italian or ranch dressing, you'll probably see this as one of the ingredients.


2. Whip the xanthan powder into your batch of Italian dressing thoroughly, either by hand with a whisk or with a hand blender. Whip for a few minutes until it reaches your desired consistency.


3. Refrigerate the thickened dressing for about 30 minutes to an hour before using it on your fresh salad.

Tags: Italian dressing, your Italian, your Italian dressing, into your