The vinaigrette

What characteristic can be given to vinaigrette? Of course, a salad of everything in the fridge. This is a peculiar Russian variant of pizza, but without dough, because it is the variety of ingredients in a common cup that is called a vinaigrette. Nevertheless, even this dish has a classic recipe, and there are a large number of modifications, because each hostess prepares in her own way.

It is worth saying that this native Russian salad due to its ingredients can be considered so useful that it is allowed to be consumed at least daily. Where else can you find protein, carbohydrates, and even fatty acids in such quantities? However, it is difficult to say whether this salad has a place in the diet of a person who wants to lose weight in its classic form due to its rather high energy value. But its modified and lightweight versions are quite capable of becoming a lunch or breakfast even for those who are losing weight. Calorie content of vinaigrette, seasoned with vinegar, will be 110 kcal per 100 g, while the use of vegetable oil will raise this figure to 150 kcal. But you don’t have to stop there - if you wish, you can remove the potatoes, make a dressing from whey or soft low-fat cottage cheese: all this will continue to lower the energy value of the dish, so you don’t have to give up the vinaigrette, even if you watch the figure.

Classic Vinaigrette: recipe with photos

In the traditional recipe of vinaigrette, there are always potatoes, beets and carrots thermally processed through boiling or steaming, as well as pickles. Often green peas and sauerkraut are added here, and the salad is seasoned with vegetable oil, sometimes combined with spices. If you want to make it taste more piquant in a vinaigrette put onions in raw.

Composition:

• Potatoes - 3-4 pcs.
• Beets - 1 pc.
• Red onion - 1 pc.
• Carrots - 2-3 pieces.
• Lightly salted cucumbers - 1-2 pcs.
• Salt, pepper - to taste
• Vegetable oil - 1.5 tbsp.

Cooking:

Potatoes are boiled in salted water not purified: this will allow it to remain whole, and also retain the maximum amount of vitamins. Carrots are washed, cleaned and put into the steamer bowl and cooked for 20 minutes. If there is no steam cooker, you can simply lay it in a metal colander, after cutting it, put the colander in a saucepan with water and cover with a lid.

The onion is peeled and cut into half rings, the beets are washed, cut in half and laid out on the foil, the edges of which need to be wrapped and fixed. The foil is removed in a hot (150 degrees) oven, where the beets will be baked for 30-40 minutes.

When all vegetables (excluding onions and cucumbers) are cooked, they are cut into small cubes and poured into a common salad bowl. Next, the same crushed semicircles of cucumbers, as well as onion half rings, are thrown there. Vinaigrette is flavored with ground black pepper, salted and dressed with vegetable oil. Before serving, it must be held in the refrigerator, covered with a lid for 45 minutes.

If you want the rest of the vegetables not to take on the shade of the beet, then add it to the cup first, and immediately pour it with vegetable oil. After that, put the rest of the ingredients and mix them. Serve classic vinaigrette recommended with slices of rye bread, grated with fresh garlic.

Classic low calorie vinaigrette with peas: a recipe

If it is necessary to track the caloric content of each eaten dish, then even salads are subjected to thorough analysis of the components and processing of their recipes. Vinaigrette as a whole is not a "heavy" dish, the figure is practically harmless if it is not abused. However, it can be made even easier by replacing potatoes with canned peas, adding sauerkraut, which perfectly satisfies hunger and has a positive effect on metabolism. And vegetable oil is excluded from the dressing, which is the main source of calories.

Composition:

• Beets - 1 pc.
• Carrots - 2 pcs.
• Sauerkraut - 120 g
• Bulb onion - 1 pc.
• Canned peas - 135 g
• Green onion - 40 g
• Pickled cucumbers - 3-4 pcs.
• Wine vinegar - 35 ml.
• Sugar - ½ tsp.
• Dried herbs - 1 tsp.

Cooking:

1. Beets and carrots are washed, peeled and cut in half. They are laid out on the foil, poured into a little cold water, tighten the edges of the foil and clean in an oven warmed to 165 degrees for 45 minutes.
2. Onion bulb finely chopped, cucumbers cut into cubes, green onions crushed with a knife. Canned peas need to drop into a colander to drain water from it.
3. Wine vinegar, dried ground herbs (dill, parsley) are combined in a small cup, sugar is dissolved. Ingredients are mixed and "rest" for 25-30 minutes. If you use fresh greens, it will take a little longer to infuse a filling - 1-1.5 hours.
4. As soon as the beets and carrots reach readiness, they are put on a paper towel, pro-blot, removing excess moisture, cut into cubes and dumped into a common bowl. Onions and cucumbers are poured there, green peas are laid, and sauerkraut is added last. The salad is seasoned with an infused sauce, all ingredients are mixed, and the dish is ready to eat. You can decorate with fresh basil leaves.

In such a vinaigrette, the caloric content will be 109 kcal per 100 g. You can relieve the salad even more if you remove the sugar from the ingredients of the dressing, or in general, replace the combination of vinegar, sugar and herbs with cranberry or lemon juice. And remember that low-calorie - not universal: a vinaigrette prepared according to this recipe is undesirable for people with high acidity of the stomach and diseases of the biliary tract.

Vinaigrette with herring: recipe

The more famous name of the fish salad is herring under the “fur coat”: such a salad is hardly low-calorie — and the fish here is quite fat, and the mayonnaise as a dressing does not look like a light component. However, the dish is definitely healthy, especially due to the appearance of such an ingredient as celery. And the addition of chicken eggs will be another reason to increase the nutritional value of the salad.

Composition:

• Beets - 1 pc.
• Smoked Herring - 120 g
• Celery (root) - 2 pcs.
• Chicken Egg - 2 pcs.
• Potatoes - 3 pcs.
• Carrots - 2 pcs.
• Red onion - 1 pc.
• Mayonnaise - 3 tbsp.
• Black pepper peas - 1 tsp.

Cooking:

1. Beets, carrots and potatoes are washed, cleaned and laid in a deep baking dish, which is filled with 100-150 ml of water. The form is tightened with foil and placed in an oven preheated to 160 degrees for 40 minutes.
2. A dry frying pan is heated on the stove; when it is hot, chopped celery root is thrown there and fried for 5-7 minutes. on all sides, so that he blushed a little and was not so raw.
3. Chicken eggs are boiled hard boiled, cut into small cubes, put in a common salad bowl. There it is also necessary to dump shredded onions, baked and chopped vegetables, as well as roasted celery and sliced ​​herring fillets. In a small container, the mayonnaise is mixed with peppercorns, and the resulting salad is refilled with a ready-made salad. Components can be laid out in layers as well as carefully mixed into a single mass. Some chefs recommend adding 50-70 g of soft, melted cheese to mayonnaise.

In the case of a vinaigrette, it is important to remember that this is not the kind of salad that is prepared for future use. This vegetable combination leads to the fact that the next day fermentation processes are started (especially if there are cabbage, legumes or fish among the components), so it is better to cook the vinaigrette in a smaller amount, but often, rather than a large portion that cannot be consumed immediately. Even in the fridge longer than 24 hours the salad will not stand.

Vinaigrette dressing: 2 unconventional options

The most common vinaigrette dressing is regular vegetable oil, occasionally combined with vinegar or supplemented with herbs. Of course, it is universal and attractive, but sometimes you want something unusual. Even a slight change in the ingredients of the dressing will lead to the fact that the traditional recipe for vinaigrette will sparkle with new colors, so you should experiment with sauces. For example, on the basis of Dijon mustard, you can get a sharp dressing, ideally combined with the classic ingredients of vinaigrette.

Composition:

• Dijon mustard - 1 tbsp.
• Red wine vinegar - 1 tsp.
• Grape seed oil - 2 tbsp.
• Red ground pepper - ½ tsp.
• Lemon zest - 1.5 tbsp.

Cooking:

1. Mustard with spices is whipped in a container with a fork, wine vinegar is added to this mass little by little, whipping does not stop.
2. The last pour in grape oil, fall asleep lemon zest.
3. The filling should be infused for 1.5-2 hours in the refrigerator, after which it is used for its intended purpose.

What is interesting: initially, vinegar was necessarily present in any dressing for vinaigrette, but the remaining ingredients were already varied at the discretion of the chef. Now the essential component is rather oil. The following version fully meets the standard requirements of the sauce for this salad.

Composition:

• Sesame oil - 1 tsp.
• Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp.
• White vinegar - 1 tbsp.
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp.
• Garlic clove - ½ pcs.

Cooking:

1. Skip garlic through a press, combine with lemon juice and vegetable oil, mix the components.
2. Carefully put sesame oil and white wine vinegar into the dressing, do not mix, put in a cold place for 45 minutes.
3. This dressing is great for less traditional vinaigrette options: for example, with an apple and soaked cowberries, with shrimps, etc.

You can easily create your own recipes for vinaigrette, as this salad is the most loyal to changing ingredients. The main thing is to keep in the presence of carrots, beets and potatoes, as well as onions and pickled cucumbers. However, this is not an axiom. After all, the best vinaigrette is the one that appeals to you.