For more about this recipe and why I think it works, read below. Here’s the important part first.

Ingredients:

1 cup of olive oil or grape seed oil (I’ve had good results with both)

1 cup of balsamic vinegar

5 cloves of garlic (I used six for this particular recipe because some of them were small)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (yellow mustard would probably work, too, but this is what I used the first time around, so I stuck with it)

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of soy sauce

Fresh ground pepper (I usually count out about forty to fifty turns of the crank for the correct amount)

1. Peel the garlic. Measure out the rest of the ingredients and put everything in the pitcher of your blender.

2. Blend on the highest setting for about 3-4 minutes. Everything will be puréed in seconds, but the extra blending helps to whip in tiny air bubbles, which help form the creamy texture. You can—though I often don’t—add the oil gradually as the blender runs, in order to ensure that it has the chance to completely emulsify. After a few years of making this recipe pretty regularly, I haven’t noticed that much difference.

3. Pour into a container and chill for at least an hour before using. Friction from the blender can make the mixture very warm, and there is often a cloud of vaporized vinegar waiting to escape when you remove the lid. Makes about 2 cups of dressing that could (in theory) keep in the fridge indefinitely. After a few weeks, the vinegar will begin to separate. The few times I’ve attempted to re-blend, it has not worked well.

Where did this idea come from: I used to make a version of this by hand, in individual batches, back before I got a blender. This version of the recipe comes from feeling like I needed to use the appliance more.

The original by-hand version of the recipe is based on an attempt to replicate something I saw my mother making a while ago now, that had similar results. I’m not sure if they’re the same, but that was certainly the idea behind it.

A second source of inspiration was this (now pay-walled, sorry!) New York Times recipe for gazpacho, which uses the salt-oil-blender combination to create an emulsion. I suspect that the consistency of this salad dressing is result of a similar process, though I have yet to consult an actual scientist on the matter.

The dressing works well as a garnish for things like tuna salad, where I use it as a substitute for mayonnaise. Maybe I’ll add instructions on how to do that one next.