Name: Quick and Easy Basic Salad Dressing
Ingredients: 1/2 cup cold-pressed essential oils or extra virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (the vinegar of your choice will do in a pinch); 2 tsp dry mustard powder; 1-2 tbsp maple syrup (depending on how sweet you'd like it)

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Quick and Easy Basic Salad Dressing

Ingredients

1/2 cup cold-pressed essential oils or extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (the vinegar of your choice will do in a pinch)
2 tsp dry mustard powder
1-2 tbsp maple syrup (depending on how sweet you'd like it)

Directions

Make the dressing

Place all ingredients in a jar or container with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously until well combined.

Serve

Pour over your salad, toss, and serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

189Calories

1 gProtein

14 gFat

18 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,922 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,950 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Lemon + mustardtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,816 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Olive oil: Provides the fat base that carries flavour and gives the dressing its body.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sweetness and richness of the oil.
Dry mustard powder: Acts as an emulsifier that helps the oil and acid hold together instead of separating.
Maple syrup: Adds sweetness that softens the sharpness of the acid.

The step that matters

Shake until well combined. Oil and acid naturally separate. Vigorous shaking breaks the oil into tiny droplets, and the mustard helps keep them suspended long enough to coat the leaves evenly.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup):

Avocadofits better
Cherryfits better
Pumpkinfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Quick and Easy Basic Salad Dressing