Salad dressing questions...

Jem

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I am tasked to make a Greek pasta salad for a family gathering...but all the recipes call for red wine vinegar. I don't use red wine vinegar for my cooking, so I don't really want to buy some just for this and have it go to waste.
I would also like to add that this side of the family doesn't exactly have refined pallets so "it don't need to be fancy"...;)

1) Could I substitute it for plain white vinegar? There are so many other flavors in the salad that I assume that the type of vinegar could be substituted.
2) Should I just buy a bottle of "kraft" Greek dressing and use that instead?
3) Should I just use a plain oil and vinegar dressing and add some "club house" Greek herb mix for some added flavor?

The pasta salad will consist of your standard...
pasta - not sure of the type of noodle yet.
cucumber
red onion
cherry tomatoes
feta cheese
black olives
 

sivyaleah

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How about apple cider vinegar instead?
I use it more than any other type these days. Makes really good dressings. Especially good for cole slaw and potato salads.

And of course you could substitute a commercial dressing if you want to be true to the Greek flavors. Ken's makes a really decent Greek dressing, I think it even has some feta in it if I remember right.

FYI as for the pasta you want something that the small cut up veggies can cling to so people don't wind up with mouthfuls of just pasta or just veggies. Something like rotini would be perfect.
 

Kat0121

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I am tasked to make a Greek pasta salad for a family gathering...but all the recipes call for red wine vinegar. I don't use red wine vinegar for my cooking, so I don't really want to buy some just for this and have it go to waste.
I would also like to add that this side of the family doesn't exactly have refined pallets so "it don't need to be fancy"...;)

1) Could I substitute it for plain white vinegar? There are so many other flavors in the salad that I assume that the type of vinegar could be substituted.
2) Should I just buy a bottle of "kraft" Greek dressing and use that instead?
3) Should I just use a plain oil and vinegar dressing and add some "club house" Greek herb mix for some added flavor?

The pasta salad will consist of your standard...
pasta - not sure of the type of noodle yet.
cucumber
red onion
cherry tomatoes
feta cheese
black olives
I think any kind of vinegar could be used or you could just use a bottled Greek dressing. That's what I did for a work potluck and it was very good. I used the same ingredients that you are in the salad.
 
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Jem

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FYI as for the pasta you want something that the small cut up veggies can cling to so people don't wind up with mouthfuls of just pasta or just veggies. Something like rotini would be perfect.
I usually use whatever pasta "matches" how I decide to cut my veggies.:) (well, for pasta salads anyway...)
If I dice my veggies, I'll use ex; small shells or elbow...If I slice my veggies to be long, I'll use ex; penne, rotini, fusilli...And if I decide to "julienne" then I'll use chopped up spaghetti or spaghettini .IDK, I just like the look when the shapes "match"...:lol:
 

Willowy

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I just bought some red wine vinegar and it was $2.27 for 16 ounces. At that price it's low risk, I think I'd stick to the recipe just to be safe. If there's extra, use it to clean the toilet or something, haha.

Anyway don't use white vinegar; it's much too harsh tasting. Apple cider vinegar would maybe work. But every vinegar has its own taste and I think red wine would be the best with Greek flavors.

And a premade Greek dressing is perfectly acceptable.
 

Kflowers

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I'm not really a foodie or even close, but I absolutely can tell the difference in a dressing made with red wine vinegar, white vinegar, and apple cider vinegar. There is an incredible difference to the taste, and I'm quite happy with white vinegar for most things. Just saying.
 

susanm9006

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I only use red wine vinegar. It really doesn’t taste like wine, just a very slight difference, a bit smoother than regular vinegar. I usually put garlic salt, black pepper, and a bit of sugar in my vinaigrette along with the white wine vinegar and oil, so it does have an Italian flavor to it.
 
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