Italian Dressing, Etc.

I love the versatility of this recipe, the Italian Dressing Mix. 

This mix makes about, oh, 3-4 servings of Italian Dressing. This is the dry mix.  It is awesome when rubbed on meat before cooking as well. Flavors are yummy on chicken and pork.

Italian Dressing Mix: (I keep this in a glass jar until needed)

• 1 TB garlic powder
• 1 TB onion powder
• 1 TB white sugar
• 2 TB dried oregano
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 TB dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp celery seeds
• 1 TB salt

For dressing:

• 1/4 white vinegar
• 2/3 C oil
• 2 TB of dry Italian Dressing Mix
• 2 TB water

Using an old salad dressing bottle is good for shaking it all together.  Refrigerate.  Note: depending on your oil, some refrigeration will turn the oil into white looking curtled mystery pieces. Fear not, it is due to the cold temp from the refrigerator. If you leave at room temperature to thaw a bit, you will see these "curtled" pieces liquify. This especially happens when I primarily use olive oil.



Rice and Pea Cold Salad:

• 2-3 C brown rice, uncooked
• generous amount of frozen peas
• Italian Salad Dressing (from the recipe above), to taste

Cook the brown rice according to directions (we have a rice cooker, and honestly we need a better one).  Let the cooked rice cool at bit before adding a generous amount of frozen peas (not necessarily needing to be thawed) and a good splash of the homemade Italian dressing (to taste).  Refrigerate at least 20 min. Serve.  Kiddo loves this, and he rarely eats anything green, so this is a nice way of sneaking them in.