Sun Dried Tomato Dressing – two ways!

I have made my marinated sun dried tomatoes for years.  After soaking the tomatoes in rice vinegar, I always threw the vinegar away.  

One day I had a brainstorm.  I am throwing away this highly flavored vinegar – why not use it to make salad dressing?

The salad dressing is tasty.  

Plus the vinegar stores well in my refrigerator for when I am ready to make salad dressing.

The second version of this dressing came about because we went on vacation with ripe tomatoes sitting on our counter.   They were thrown in the refrigerator and we left.  

Upon our return I had to figure out what to do with a couple of mushy tomatoes.  In the midst of making sun dried tomato dressing, the mushy tomatoes caught my eye.  What if I threw them into the blender with the dressing?  I also added a couple  tablespoons of parmesan and a wonderful variation was born.  It also has a vibrant orange color that is appealing.

Because I use sun dried tomatoes without sulfites, they are dark in color. 

To make this dressing you need to make marinated sun dried tomatoes.  After you have marinated the tomatoes in vinegar, drain the vinegar and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to make this dressing.  

When you are finished eating the marinated sun dried tomatoes, scrape any leftover bits along with any extra oil into the vinegar container in your refrigerator.  It will  add extra flavor to your dressing.

I have used this leftover vinegar as the only vinegar in this dressing but we found it too strong.  I now use half marinated sun dried tomato vinegar and half rice vinegar.  You could use a white wine vinegar or any mild vinegar.  If you still find that too strong, use only 1/4 sun dried tomato vinegar, and. 3/4 mild vinegar.

I also do not recommend skipping the maple syrup in this dressing.  It cuts the vinegar just enough without making the dressing too sweet.

The last time I made it, I left out the maple syrup.  It was amazing how much better the dressing was with the maple syrup.

If you want a creamier dressing that does not separate as easily, add two tablespoons of mayonnaise to the Dijon and blend.

Allergies

No top 9 allergens.  If you are sensitive to sulfites be careful that you choose sun dried tomatoes without sulfites.  I can only find them at Whole Foods in my area.