Nana’s Vinaigrette

Sabbath in the Kitchen

As a Sabbath activity, follow this family recipe or prepare another favorite dish.

Nana’s Vinaigrette

A family recipe shared by Hannah Garrity

There are many versions of this dressing, including the simple olive oil and salt version with which Nana (my grandmother) dressed up our salads when she and I visited France in the autumn of 1999. Her first time there, in the 1950’s when my mother was young, became the inspiration for many of the recipes that we then inherited. Perhaps this dressing is such one. My memories of our salad dressing span decades and are drenched in joy. I was finally old enough to sit with the older cousins and adults. With thirty people surrounding the table, the salad was always already dressed. It was my favorite part of the meal. The dressing would slide under the rice on my plate, creating a unique delicacy that I would recreate in my college dining hall as comfort food years later. Sounds of laughter and repeated stories, feelings of love and warmth would flood back at the first taste. No one in my family makes the dressing just like anyone else. Every time it is a little bit different for everyone. So, as a snapshot of a moment in a long and fluid span of time, here’s the recipe Nana made, as I remember it, on that distant day when I thought to take note.

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup olive oil
• 1⁄3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
• A pinch of pepper

Instructions

Shake or stir the dressing. Dip a piece of lettuce
in it. Taste it. Add salt if needed. Dress and toss the whole salad. Serve with any meal. Enjoy.

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