Ten houses down the street. The stretch of road I knew like the back of my hand, each front garden and it’s blooms in every season, each dog’s bark and each neighbour’s wave, the path to my best friend’s house. A well worn path two little girls, later teenagers and later again young women, would tread to each other’s homes where we’d each slip into each other’s families assuming the honorary place in the tribe and pecking order we were lovingly afforded. Where we’d feel as much at home as we did in our own homes, where reaching into a timber louvred pantry door to obtain ingredients to contribute to the ‘family’ meal felt as normal as it did at the other end of the ten homes. It was at these times that you were reminded that whilst always welcome and warmly embraced this family had it’s own pantry. One holding different flavours and ingredients for meals that made their memories special and that shaped their tastes and time together.

It's in this kitchen I discovered many flavours and dishes different from the ones my own family had shared meals in. Where soup was made of many different types of grated vegies and chicken simmered for a few hours or where mustard was king as a condiment on fresh fluffy white bread rolls with thinly sliced smoky ham for Saturday lunch. Condiments and embellishments for food often took pride of place in the centre of the table where tender, juicy roast beef was served with horseradish and hot English mustard and siblings competed with each other for the prize of the most resilient palate to tolerate the heat of the spicy yellow spread to loud cheers and jeers from amused parents. And in summer herby crumbed chicken fillets sizzled in a pan were served next to a fresh salad of crunchy iceberg lettuce and tomatoes robed with all manner of dressings. This both delighted and astonished me. I came from of a kitchen of plain foods with few additions and fewer flavours. The notion that even a simple salad could be finished with a flourish and elevated was one of the discoveries that fascinated me.

Whilst the dressings were often of the bottled Kraft Foods variety Italian and French being my favourite, the thin tangy homemade mayonnaise made by Joan the matriarch of my second family was also notorious and even higher in my emerging culinary esteem. Now, inspired by those moments in that compact kitchen that exploded with flavour, even the simplest of salads always reach my table adorned with glistening ribbons of dressings threading flavour through the leaves and greens nestled together.

This coming summer, I thought you might like to try some of the dressings I use to add flavour to our sides inspired by Joan and a family who always made room at the family table for one more mouth and lots of flavour.

Tangy Mustard Vinaigrette:

120 ml extra virgin olive oil

20 ml honey dijon mustard

20 lemon juice

Salt & pepper to taste

Ranch’ish Yoghurt Dressing:

½ c Greek yoghurt

1 tsp onion powder

1 garlic clove crushed

½ tsp dried dill OR 1tsp fresh dill finely chopped

1 tsp fresh parsley finely chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp olive oil

1 Tb (20 ml) water

Classic Mustard Vinaigrette:

120 ml extra virgin olive oil

20 ml honey Dijon mustard

20 ml white balsamic/white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Sesame & Honey Dressing:

1/3 c (80ml) olive oil

1Tb tahini

2 tsp honey

3 tsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

With each dressing you can use one of a few methods. You can whizz in a blender until smooth and fully emulsified, usually less than a minute. I use a Vitamix using one of the small cups and blend for 20 seconds. You could also use a stick blender as per your appliance’s instructions. Alternatively and probably the most versatile is to place all ingredients in a jar with a secure lid and get your muscles working shaking until thoroughly combined. A good job for the kids if you have helpers.

They all keep well in the fridge though the yoghurt dressing probably should be discarded after five days….if it lasts that long.