Homemade Italian Dressing

The other day I wanted to make a recipe that called for Italian dressing (a stir-fry, to be exact), but we didn't have any. However, remembering all the extra yucky stuff store-bought dressings usually contain, I decided to make my own. So I found a recipe online, modified it a bit, and tried it out. The result was tasty, though not yet perfection, so I will be tweaking it again until I find the right combination. But I wanted to offer it as food for thought (and experimentation). What I love most, though, is that this recipe prepares a bunch you can store and use by the tablespoon whenever you need to whip up a quick batch of Italian dressing.

Update: I've used this twice now to make chicken and vegetable fajitas and they were excellent!

Homemade Italian Dressing

• 1 Tb.onion powder
• 1 Tb. garlic salt
  
• 1 Tb. white sugar (I'm going to cut this down next time, as I like my Italian dressing more spicy than sweet)
  
• 2 Tb. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 Tb. dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp. celery salt
• 1 Tb. salt

In a small bowl, mix together the garlic salt, onion powder, sugar, oregano, pepper, thyme, basil, parsley, celery salt and regular salt. Store in a tightly sealed container (or a baggie).

To prepare dressing, whisk together 1/4 c. white vinegar, 2/3 c. canola oil, 2 Tb. water and 2 Tb. of the dry mix.

Update (6/15/10) - The second time I made this I preferred the variation of adding more garlic salt and cutting down on the oil.