Comments on: Salad Dressing: The Silent Killer

By: Dr. Cate

Dr. Cate — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:26:50 +0000

Jeanne makes her own mayo, which is quite a feat. But for those who don’t have the knack (myself included) your suggestions (below) sound very appetizing. Thank you!

By: Jim Kling

Jim Kling — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:08:57 +0000

Don’t forget the good old Caesar dressing with some nice Romaine leaves, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, anchovies if you like ‘em, and… well, instead of croutons I just add avocado. Egg yolk, mashed anchovies, minced garlic, lemon juice, S&P, whisk in EVOO, good aged grated Parm.

WRT the buttermilk recipe above, why not sub a good full-fat sour cream for the mayo? Adds creaminess and tang. Daisy brand is good, no junk added.

By: Jim Kling

Jim Kling — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:03:56 +0000

The basic Dijon dressing is endlessly variable. I add whatever garden herbs I fancy, but a favorite is tarragon. (Tarragon mustard is a great thing to have if you don’t have fresh tarragon.) Sometimes I’ll also add an egg yolk (fresh farm eggs from real claws in the pasture birds!) for creaminess – doesn’t even need to be refrigerated.

By: Jim Kling

Jim Kling — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:59:16 +0000

My only problem with that recipe is that it calls for mayo, and that’s another sneaky source of soybean oil. Unless, of course, you’re making your own aioli with egg and olive oil and using that in place of the mayo.

By: Dr. Cate

Dr. Cate — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:22:40 +0000

I like to use information on source and tradition to help answer questions of whether a given ingredient is good or bad.
Source issues: Organic? From good soil (this one is hard to assess but sometimes they talk about having the product in the family for generations, that’s a good sign)
Tradition: Olive oil is a traditional food. Cold pressing is a traditional process. (So far so good) The last bit is filtering. Unfiltered olive oil is a sign of gentler treatment and therefore higher quality.

By: Margarete

Margarete — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:12:35 +0000

Pls let me know if cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is ok for salads?

By: Dr. Cate

Dr. Cate — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 18:25:06 +0000

The nose knows!
Peanut oil is lower in PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) than the vegetable oils. PUFAs are the most damaged by processing so PUFA means less “cleanup” (bleaching etc.). Chapter 8 of Deep Nutrition covers good fats and bad.

By: Francesca

Francesca — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:16:11 +0000

Hi Dr. Cate.

I’m wondering why peanut oil is ok. I thought it is bleached and deodorized like the other vegetable oils. I usually deep fry in peanut oil but I remember buying from an Asian store one time and I was surprised by the intense peanut smell…so surely that oil was less processed.
This must feel strange for Americans but I come from Apulia, the biggest producer of olive oil in Italy and I tell you that my grandmother used to cook and deep fry in extra virgin olive oil.

By: Dr. Cate

Dr. Cate — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:03:58 +0000

HI Mikki
If you and are talking about making a fresh batch of oil with garlic, there is no risk of botulism whatsoever. Bacteria that produce botulism toxin are not pathogenic to humans, it is ONLY the toxin that they produce that harms us. This toxin can be produced in appreciable amounts under anaerobic (no oxygen) conditions that are not met in either a clove of garlic or inside our intestines.

HOWEVER, if you are talking about making dressing by doing a garlic infusion in oil where the garlic sits there for a while, then that’s an entirely different matter.

Yes there can be growth of enough botulism bacteria to create gas (that should be visible as bubbles or detectible as a fizz with opening the bottle) and a dangerous dose of botulism toxin.

As to the effect of acid: While the acid in the vinegar would prevent the growth of botulism bacteria in a garlic vinegar infusion, the vinegar would not be miscible with the olive oil and therefore would not lower the Ph of the oil enough to prevent the bacteria’s growth.

Bottom line:
Garlic vinegar infusion: low pH, not anaerobic, likely very safe
Garlic oil infusion: higher pH, potentially anaerobic, likely very unsafe

By: Mikki Coburn

Mikki Coburn — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:59:05 +0000

Hi Dr. Cate! I just shared this post about salad dressings with my local WAPF chapter and this question came up which you being a doctor would know. I certainly don’t! Is there any danger to getting botulism from raw garlic with the root end attached if there happens to be some soil contaminated with it? A person asked me this and was worried when he heard about a jar of garlic oil exploding when opened. He wanted to know if adding vinegar kills bacteria, which I know it does if enough is used, but I think he’s asking about making dressing with it and I do see you use only garlic powder not fresh and this might have prompted his question. Thanks if you can help me out. Mikki