Zing! An Easy Way to Make Crazy Good Creative Salad Dressings

I think everyone can agree that a homemade salad dressing is not only better for you but also that it just tastes better. And, really, while your ingredients in a salad make a big difference, the dressing you use can be HUGE in taking a salad from good to I’m-gonna-smack-you-in-your-face good. (Which, for the record, is a very good thing in these parts.)
So when we were sent the SaladZinger, which allows you to infuse oils and dressings with flavor, we were so pumped to try it. And could not stop saying “zing!”

The whole zinging process is pretty easy, too. You put ingredients in the lower compartment of the SaladZinger (it unscrews — kind of like this water bottle), grind it up, screw it back on, add your yummy liquids to infuse and let the deliciousness begin.

With a stainless filter to keep the solids out but the flavor in, you can create about a million flavor combinations.

The package includes all kinds of recipes to try, but for my first zing (zing!), I got creative with what was in season — and what I had in my fridge. I put chopped apple (still feeling inspired after this amazing cocktail recipe!), lemon, garlic and rosemary in my grinder cup.

I turned that little handle on the top of the cup to grind it.

And ended up with this, ready to infuse my dressing! The grinder cup does a pretty good job of getting things nice and smooshy. (Totally a technical cooking term.)

I put the top half back on, and it was time to add my liquids.

I decided olive oil and apple cider vinegar would be a nice complement to the flavor profile I had going on. Layer the apple taste, of course.

Adding some sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, I put the top-stopper on. You’re supposed to let it sit and infuse for 30 minutes or so, but I was starving. So, 15 minutes was all this one got.

Then I shook it like a mo-fo. And that topper-stopper thing totally worked. No spilling, no matter how much hip I put into it.

I poured it on my salad, hoping it was good because, um, still starving and the hangry was about to come out.

And it was AWESOME. Partially because I was starving and it was food. But mostly because the salad dressing I concocted really did have a lot of flavor. The apple made it slightly sweet, the garlic gave it some zip (or zing!), and the rosemary added a depth and warmth to the salad that worked perfectly with the turkey and beets in the salad.

And the best part? I had healthy dressing leftovers. Which I could easily store in the fridge.

And that next day, I totally made the same salad again — and the dressing was even better. Showing, yet again, that when you have a little patience in the kitchen, things can turn out even more amazing. (I have to re-learn that lesson once every few weeks it seems.)
The SaladZinger goes for about $25 and is a fun little tool. I love that you could take this to a party and dress a salad on the spot or that you can save leftover homemade dressing in your fridge. The SaladZinger also lets you infuse oils (takes more time), which I’d like to try, too. And the creativity options for both are limitless. Which I really, really love. Clean-up is a bit slippery, as everything is covered in oil, but that’s a small price to pay for healthier and more flavorful dressings, don’tcha think?
If you’re a salad-lover this is a great way to spice things up! How do you add more zing to your salads? Would you use something like this? —Jenn