Get Everyone in Your House Loving Their Veggies with This Magic Dressing
Summer is the season of all the vegetables. And whether you are getting your bounty from a CSA, your local farmers market, the grocery store, or your backyard garden, there is nothing like the flavor of fresh vegetables to really make mealtime sing.
But while gorgeous produce often doesn't need much more than the kiss of a good oil or some butter and salt and pepper to amplify its natural goodness, it's great to have a go-to topper. It turns out there's a super simple shortcut dressing that relies on only 3 pantry ingredients—meaning it's ready to whip up (and store) all summer long. And it can go on any vegetable!
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Introducing the world's easiest vegetable dressing
It could not be easier, and begins with two easy-to-find pantry ingredients:
- Toasted sesame oil
- Soy sauce
From there, a bonus third ingredient is where the fun comes in, as it's there for crunch and a hit of flavor. My original inspo for this dressing—itself inspired by a heavenly bar snack—suggests furikake, a Japanese blend of minced seaweed, toasted sesame seeds, and bonito flakes that you can find at most supermarkets. This is a gorgeous idea, but you can also consider any of the following:
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Crispy fried shallots or garlic
- Toasted sliced almonds or pine nuts
- Chopped peanuts
- Fried chow mein noodles
- Everything Bagel spice
- Crispy fried or puffed grains like quinoa
- Any of these stellar new crispy toppings from This Little Goat
How to make the world's easiest vegetable dressing
I make up a bottle of the dressing and keep it in the pantry in a squeeze bottle, along with jars of different toppings to zhuzh it up. It is a simple 3:1 ratio of toasted sesame oil and soy sauce. Be sure the sesame oil is toasted, not light. Use whatever soy you like. Before you go to serve your vegetables, whether raw or cooked, give the dressing a good shake and drizzle it over. Toss the veggies in it (if you haven't had this on celery, you haven't lived), then hit them with a healthy sprinkle of your third ingredient of choice and toss again.
That's it! This mix of flavors and textures are the perfect way to gild any and all of your summer vegetables. So, the next time you are facing down that confusing kohlrabi in your CSA box, don't panic. Just slice it thin or cut into matchsticks and reach for your bottle of pantry magic.