Homemade *true* French dressing

I am not a big fan of French dressing, but I (thought) I knew what it was. To me French dressing always looked like this.

Source

Then I started delving into my Fannie Farmer Cookbook and realized that a true French dressing is simply an oil and vinegar based dressing. It can be modified to include things like ketchup or sugar, but a true french is very basic.

Let us first compare the ingredients in a bottled French dressing. We will start with the Kraft.

Ingredients

Soybean oil, vinegar, tomato puree (water, tomato paste), sugar, skim milk, salt, contains less than 2% of water, spice, dried garlic, propylene glycol alginate, xanthan gum, vitamin e, natural flavor, yellow 6, yellow 5. contains milk.

And for fun, a fat free version.
Ingredients:

Water, distilled vinegar, sugar, maltodextrin, tomato paste, salt, cellulose gel and cellulose gum, contains less than 2% of: potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives, xanthan gum, garlic, propylene glycol alginate, onion, yellow 6, lemon juice concentrate, spice, red 40, blue 1.

Now here is my version.

Mix in a bottle or a jar with a cover

All from my garden!

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red vinegar
~ 2 Tbsp. chopped basil*
~ 2 Tbsp. chopped rosemary*
~ 2 Tbsp. chopped oregano*
~ 2 Tbsp chopped parsley*
2 pinches salt

* You can use just about any combo of herbs.




I used my food processor to do the chopping for me. I threw all the ingredients in there to mix.

All real ingredients that most people have on hand. This recipe should be the one to convince you, someone, anyone, that there is no need to buy a bottle of dressing!