Zesty Italian Salad Dressing Mix

This year we ordered 20 weeks of farm share produce from a local farm and we've been getting some amazing salad greens from them. I'm burning through bottles of salad dressing faster than I can buy it so I've been making a lot of my own. My old recipe for Italian salad dressing tasted 'too herby' and strong for me so I came up with one that tastes more like the store bought kind.

Zesty Italian Salad Dressing Mix

1 teaspoon dried garlic flakes
1 teaspoon dried red bell pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried onion flakes
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon nutritional yeast

Xanthan gum is a thickener used in commercial dressings and other foods. You can omit it if you don't have any. Nutritional yeast enhances flavor but can also be omitted.

What else you'll need

1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar

You can also add a teaspoon or two of lemon juice if you want the dressing to be more sour.

This salad dressing has the same garlicky tang as the store bought dressing without too much overpowering herb taste, but can be made at home using healthier oils for much less money. It was delicious on our nice fresh salads.