Back in the day, my favorite commercially bottled salad dressing was Catalina. But they reformulated it to be sweeter (and full of HFCS, but it was the extra sweetness that turned me off) in the 1990s or maybe it was the late 1980s. Right now, it is Annie's Balsamic Vinaigrette. Tart, creamy, not too sweet. No ingredient crud. I intensely dislike sweet salad dressings. When I want sugar, I'll have a dessert. If I want my salad with some level of sweetness, I'll add actual fruit into the salad itself. For a regular vinaigrette, home-made: Juice of 1/2 lemon Add rice vinegar to make 50 mL / 1.7 fluid ounces total volume atop the lemon juice (I used one of those Ball half-pint canning jars, and just added everything directly to that. The metric side of the scale on the jar was more convenient to me.) 1.5 teaspoon Dijon mustard 75 mL / 2.5 fluid ounces of oil. I recommend a 1:1 mixture (approximately 37.5 L/1.25 ounces of each) extra virgin olive oil to avocado oil. See below, and no, I don’t expect this to be measured out Exactly! Two teaspoons Penzy’s Herbes de Provence dried herbal concoction. 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper (approximate) I put it in that Ball canning jar, cap, and shake the devil out of it.

Linda, you can use Sriracha for the chili sauce, but you will not need very much of it, probably no more than half a teaspoon. To make up for the chili flavor, you can add chili powder (if it is a good brand and pure chili powder). If you have Ancho chili powder, that would be good to use, and you could just mix it with a bit of water. If you use chipotles in adobo sauce, you will be making an adobo dressing, which is a bit intense for a crab salad. I do recommend that you buy a canned chili or enchilada sauce - La Victoria is a good brand and is the correct mildness for this recipe. Sharon, it is fine to use a tomato based chili sauce in this recipe, but I give it a different name when it has tomatoes in it, although I can't remember what that is. I do make it both ways, but I think it is good to start with the pure chili sauce to be able to appreciate the subtle flavor of the mild chilies. Lars

Here are a few: Green godess: 2 cups mayonnaise 4 anchovy fillets, minced 1 green onion, chopped 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives 1 tablespoon taragon vinegar 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon Directions 1 Mix together mayonnaise, anchovy, green onion, parsley, chives, vinegar and tarragon. 2 Refrigerate until ready to serve and pour over favorite salad or greens. Makes 6 servings Fran Lozano's zesty blue dressing 4 oz Maytag blue cheese 1/2 cup olive oil 1 tsp grated lemon peel juice of ½ a lemon 1 cup sour cream 1 clove minced garlic. Mash cheese with fork and mix in oil until creamy. add remaining ingredients. Donns Delight 4 oz Maytag blue crumbled 1 cup of mayo ( I use Kraft) 3 oz ( about 1/3 cup) milk or cream 2 tsps sugar 2 tsps dried parsley 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice 1 ½ Tablespoons cider vinegar 1 Tablespoon fresh grated onion 1 Tsp Lee and Perrins worchestershire 1 tsp horseradish ½ tspoon garlic powder. Mix gently so as to leave some lumps, and serve over a green salad or on sliced tomatoes or cukes and onions or as a dip for raw veggies. Serves about 6 to 8 Basic vinaigrette 1T dijon mustard 1clove of garlic, crushed (or chopped very fine) 1T honey 1/3 cup cider vinegar Mix together, I use a wire wisk 1/2 cup olive oil...whisk the oil in a slow stream, whisking all the while Then I like to add some dried or fresh herbs....most of the time I use oregano...I Dont' add salt because of the salt in the mustard, and I pepper it on the plate or in the bowl....like they do in a restaurant!! Now, if you substitute catsup for the mustard and use brown sugar instead of the Honey, add a bit of cayenne and basil instead of the oregano, you have something Different. If you substitute mayonnaise for the mustard and white sugar for the honey and add some chopped chives or green onion tops...it's different still. Try doing the Mayonnaise thing and using walnut oil instead of olive oil....or substituting raspberry vinegar for the cider vinegar...or balsamic vinegar....or lemon juice....try adding some poppy seed or celery seed...for a fruit salad, leave out the garlic. The variations are endless....once you know the basics! And then there's my famous "dump and toss".. Mix your greens in a wooden bowl which has been rubbed with a cut clove of garlic, drizzle a little OVOO over it all and toss until every leaf is coated, sprinkle very lightly with salt and av ery little bit of sugar (brings out the flavor)...keep tossing...add herbs and seasonings of choice....tarragon, oregano, basil, marjoram, cilantro...whatever floats your boat....keep tossing....finish up with a sprinkling of the vinegar of choice....taste a leaf....perhaps add more vinegar or salt or sugar....and pass the pepper grinder. This works best with 2 people, one tossing and the other adding stuff, it's hard to go wrong and makes you look like such a pro in the kitchen! Linda C

Funky, You can use any preserve in that first dressing, as a variation. I don't think the red pepper jelly is terribly sweet; and I suppose one could easily adjust it if they did. I am a fanatic about how a salad is dressed --- 90% of the time I feel they are overdressed. If you dress very lightly and toss, to me the dressing is rarely too sweet because the dressing doesn;t over power. The only bottled dressing I buy is Ken's 1000 Island. My son likes it, and he knows how to make it from mayo, ketchup and relish, but TBH it tastes about the same. I do buy ranch packets, mainly to make dip. Other than that, I make my own. It lasts fairly long and to me it tastes a zillion times better. I have tried all of the fancy bottled ones, and they just don't cut it for me. As far as going bad ..I mean, the vinaigrette has vinegar ... a preservative. And the dairy based ones; you can usually smell if they have turned. I make half batches. FWIW:The "shelf life" of salad dressings varies somewhat. Generally, vinaigrettes can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Dairy-based dressings, like buttermilk, and dressings made with fresh ingredients, like chopped onion, fresh herbs, tomato sauce and chopped hard-cooked egg, will keep up to 1 week.