Lemon Garlic Salad Dressing

Last summer I started searching online for a salad dressing I could make myself.  I suppose we'd run out of store-bought dressing and I'd already made the rest of the salad.  What I didn't know that day is the recipe I used would become a staple for salads around here, and change how I thought about dressing.

There's really nothing like fresh salad dressing - something recently made without all the preservatives.  Last month I posted this Simple Balsamic Dressing, and this month I've got something a little more springy.  I know Spring doesn't officially start until later this month, but I know we've got a few warm days that will be mixed in so let's be prepared for them!

For starters, I keep my dressings in an old bacon bits jar, which works great for size so that it lasts a few weeks but not too long.  Plus these bacon bits are pretty great if you like to use those in salads.  They cost a little more than other brands, but I think of it as I'm also buying the awesome jar.

You can rip off the paper, and goo gone works wonders to get the gross sticky stuff off.  

I throw them in the dishwasher to get them good and disinfected since there used to be meat there.

 The ingredients for this recipe are as follows:

lemon juice

olive oil

mustard

garlic

salt and pepper

I wrote the original recipe and followed it strictly the first few times, but now I just guesstimate and do things a little differently to how I like them.

When I make this, first I toss in the garlic.  I'm lazy and use that stuff in the jar a lot of times, but I'm sure fresh garlic would taste much better!

Then I throw in the mustard.  I've found it is hard to dissolve the mustard in the liquid, so I try to stir it in with the garlic first.

Then I add the lemon juice.

Then the salt...and I don't like doing extra dishes, so as you see here you can keep your mustard spoon!  ;)

Then add the pepper to taste.  Tyler eats the Balsamic dressing.  Since this one's mine, that means LOTS of pepper!  

I love pepper!  

First mix in the salt and pepper, then add the olive oil.

It looks so pretty and green!

I've been using this olive oil for about 2 years and really like it!  It isn't such a bad price for such a large container that lasts us for months.

Then put the lid back on and shake everything together!  I love the color of this dressing!

If you want the exact measurements for this recipe, check out the source HERE!  I love that this is so simple, and I pretty much always have all of the ingredients so I can make this anytime we need it!

Do you make your own dressings, or do you prefer a specific flavor found in dressings from the store?