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Tip Store: Cooking: Salads and Salad Dressings

​MOO Strawberry Vinegar

I once had a really lovely green salad topped with strawberry vinegar and cracked black pepper. I asked my friend about the vinegar and was amazed to find it cost $19.95 for a one litre bottle! So in the interests of saving.....

I bought 2 cheap punnets of strawberries for $2.00 each and a 2 litre bottle of white wine vinegar for $2.50 (you could even make your own white wine vinegar).

Then I washed the strawberries, no need to hull them, and put them to soak in the vinegar for 18 days. You can do it in 14 days but I wanted a good strong flavour and colour. The vinegar turned red, I strained and used the strawberries in my pickled collection, and I finished the vinegar by adding sugar syrup. This was 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of water boiled till dissolved. Add the syrup to taste. I like mine with only a little. Serve on fresh salads with cracked black pepper or even add to some Asian dressings for something different. 
Contributed by Janie-Lee McRobert

Make a Simple, Tasty Coleslaw Dressing

Coleslaw dressing is quite expensive and only available in small squeeze bottles but I find that Coleway Real mayonnaise available from Aldi with a little cider or white wine vinegar mixed in to make it a bit more runny works a treat and is much more economical.
Contributed by Claire Sierakowski

​Salad Dressings

​Bottled salad dressings may be loaded with saturated oils and preservatives. Make your own by mixing three or four parts polyunsaturated vegetable oil, olive oil, yoghurt or buttermilk with one part vinegar or lemon juice and seasonings.

Sour Cream Substitute

​For a sour cream substitute that is cheap and low in fat, use evaporated milk, and add a 1/2-tablespoon of lemon juice. Use the same amount of milk that the recipe required for sour cream. Mix together and microwave on high for 30-60 seconds. This speeds up the curdling effect. Pour into your recipe and it will thicken as it cooks.

​Super Salads

​Save time and money with one-dish salad meals. Combine diced leftover meats, fish or poultry with fresh vegetables; add dressing, croutons and toss.

​Homemade Sour Cream

​Makes 1 cup (for cooked recipes only): To 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice, add enough evaporated milk to make 1 cup. Stir and let stand 5 minutes before using.

​Tasty Tidbits

​Raisins and sultanas are an excellent source of fibre and potassium. When they go on sale, stock up. They keep well and can be used in many ways like in cereal, stuffing, rice pilaf and salads.

​Budget Flavoured Oils

For great flavour at a third of the cost try placing 1/3 cup of good olive oil in a bottle and then topping it up with a cupful of cheaper canola oil. You can vary the amounts to suit your taste but any way it is a much cheaper alternative to all olive oil.
​- Contributed by Cheryl Beasley

​Bottled Sauce Saver

​Soy sauce bottles with the shaker lid make great containers for vinegar or strong sauces, if you like to use just a little on your spinach or other food. You can make hot flavoured vinegar by adding chilli and/or onions to the bottle and letting it set for a few days. It works faster if you slice the chilli first.

​Sauce Out Of The Bottle

Try this when you are unable to get any more sauce out of the bottle. Keep the dregs until you are making a stew or a casserole, then just add a little water to the dregs in the bottle, shake and add to the meat.
​- Contributed by Kate Rose, Melbourne

​Homemade Flavoured Oils

To have those great flavoured oil dressings, just place your favourite herb (e.g. chilli, garlic, rosemary etc.) in a bottle of your oil choice with your favourite oil (olive etc.) The aromas and taste is sensational.
​- Contributed by Diane, Mt. Waverley, April 29th 2005

​Fresh Herbs On Hand

To keep herbs fresh and ready to use for cooking, I fill plastic containers with a little water in the bottom and place in the door side of the fridge, like a vase. I also have kept most my vegetables fresh by doing this
​Miss K., Perth, 12th May 2007

​Spray Your Dressing On

I love my salad dressings, Greek, Italian and French but always the bottle pours out too much, no matter how hard you try to get just that right amount to make the salad tasty, but not overpowered. It also tends to 'swamp' other foods near the salad. I have begun pouring mine now into a plastic spray bottle and keeping it in the fridge. When needed, I just spray a bit over my salad and it gives just the right amount to make it tasty but not flooded! Saves money by avoiding leaving a lagoon of unused dressing on the plate!
​- Contributed by Julie, Elizabeth Downs, 13th January 2008