I most often use Edda EVOO with aged balsamic vinegar, S&P...

I used to love ranch but I think I've become sensitive to MSG so I don't eat it any more. I like Bleu Cheese too. I've just recently tried balsamic vinaigrette and it is delicious.

Balsamic vinaigrette and Thousand Island With Bacon.

A question I asked before... But I stand by the one I posted in the original post.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6166490/what-s-your-favorite-salad-and-or-dressing-recipe#n=29

I really enjoyed that project which I only did from last August-December, but I think I'll get back to it.

Regular vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette, sour cream with minced shallots and red wine vinegar (only good on crunchy lettuces, not spring mixes.)

I have never had a commercial dressing that was decent, aside from La madeleine's Caesar dressing.

There is a lot of sugar in most commercial stuff, plus other unneeded ingredients. Mixing up regular vinaigrettes and keeping them in a jar in the refrigerator is easy-peasy.

I use olive oil and wine vinegar mostly but sometime use lemon juice in place of the vinegar. For bottled dressing most Marzetti dressings are good.

Ranch. But not bottled ranch, which I find oddly sweet. It has to be made with dairy. At home I make it from the mix and there is a restaurant near me that makes it from scratch. Both are yummy.

So Ranch is king.

But a close second it olive garden Italian. I keep a bottle of that around too.

I hate to say it, but my favorite dressing is ”none”. I love my green salad crisp, refreshing, and clean. But, servers don’t understand the phrase ”no dressing thank you”, so I started asking for ranch on the side, because it was easy to say.

But the question is, what is the best? Well, I have a recipe that calls for Russian dressing, with French as the alternative. Another recipe that calls for Italian. Personally, I like Thousand Island. and vinaigretts, oil-and-vinegars of all flavors, all have their place, as condiments or in cooking.

The best is the one that suits the need.

French vinaigrette, which is heavy on the mustard, lighter on the garlic. About the only bottled one I've found is Brianna's brand.

It also depends on the salad...a lemon vinaigrette is nicer and lighter I think on salads with fruit. Sometimes the dressings with fruit in them such as a raspberry vinaigrette is nice too. I'm not a fan of "gloppy" dressings and drowning as I like the taste of salad too. When out, I always ask for the dressing on the side as then I can control how much.

I happen to like Bernstein's Light Cheese Fantastico. It is essentially an Italian vinaigrette with cheese (Parm and Romano). It makes a great marinade as well as a dressing for a basic green or pasta salad.

I make my own Caesar dressing as I like anchovies......a lot :-) And I waiver back and forth between spicy Ranch or hot sauce, sour cream and lime juice on taco salads.

I agree, it depends on the salad. Vinagrette, mayonnaise, soy sauce and limejuice, yoghurt and lemon ......

Most of the time I choose Thousand Island. Never buy Kraft products. I like Wish Bone because it does not use corn syrup. Cesar is second choice, when the salad doesn't call for a specific dressing.

Interesting about Kraft - in Canada, Kraft dressings don't use corn syrup - different countries, different standards, I guess.

Maybe she’s got other reasons for not buying Kraft, the post isn’t clear. Their Thousand Island doesn’t have sugar in the US, either.

My favorite! Balsamic vinaigrette - chinese grandma

For Blue Cheese, try the Trader Joe's jarred dressing in the produce section. I have never liked Kraft dressings for some reason. If I am not making my own vinaigrette, I'll use Newman's, Just bought a bottle of Newman's Balsamic last week, and it's very good.

French Roquefort, which can easily be made with bottled French dressing and mixing in your own crumbled cheese (so you can add lots!) After reading about it, I have also started making a dressing with sour cream and pickle juice. I thought it sounded weird, but it is really good.

So many good ones! As mentioned, it just depends on the salad. Some I use most often are Caesar (Girard’s and Cardini’s), Ranch (from Hidden Valley’s season packet, not their bottled), Blue Cheese (my own) and my basic vinaigrette. Last night I made a black bean, corn and avocado salad that’s delicious with a lime vinaigrette.

Big Blue Cheese fan here, I'll add more BC crumbles to any brand of bottled BC dressing we buy. Sometimes VgQn will blend BC crumbles with plain yogurt for me (she can't stand the stuff, nyuk). We both also like Ginger based dressings that are served with salads at our favorite sushi places.

I had to go check, my Sundried Tomato dressing has sugar not corn syrup.

balsamic vinegar or AC vinegar

"Interesting about Kraft - in Canada, Kraft dressings don't use corn syrup - different countries, different standards, I guess."

US sugar prices are artificially higher than elsewhere because of the effect of government policies supporting sugar farmers and restrictions on the import of sugar as part of the same effort. High fructose corn syrup was developed as an alternative to sugar and is used because it's cheaper here than sugar. Sugar is of course available, and a growing number of products sold here have gone back to using it and labels say so.

A search found this Canadian website talking about high fructose corn syrup and saying its use in food is "common" in Canada. I'll assume that's the case and the comment about "different standards" might have been an attempt to throw shade. That's sad if so.

High Fructose corn syrup widely used in Canada

Kraft Thousand Island uses sugar here in the US also. They do add corn syrup to their light version. I actually prefer Ken's Steakhouse Thousand Island but I don't worry about high fructous corn syrup in products.

Dressing for me depends on the salad but other than Chinese chicken salad I have the dressing on the side, even at home. I can't abide salad swimming in dressing. In restaurants my side of dressing often appears untouched I use so little. I use the above Ken's more on burgers than on salad.

We frequently use homemade vinaigrette. Good green fruity olive oil (current favorite is California Olive Ranch Arbequina variety, from Whole Foods or Amazon), red wine vinegar, sometimes Dijon mustard added for flavor and to emulsify it, and shakes of salt, pepper, and sometimes garlic powder on top before tossing well.

Californians can enjoy an excellent old favorite brand of Thousand Island dressing that comes in jars - Bobs. Bobs Bleu Cheese and Roquefort (seemingly Roquefort in SoCal only) are also excellent. All are stocked in the refrigerated section. Easily found in SoCal, carried by at least the Nob Hill/Raleys chain in the Bay Area. I don't know if it's available elsewhere.

Trader Joe's Organic Toasted Sesame Dressing

My buttermilk roquefort dressing that I inherited from MIL

Lemon Vinaigrette. I use fresh lemon juice in place of vinegar, a nice spicy olive oil, roasted garlic, salt, pepper, sometimes some fresh basil and I might add a touch of honey, agave or maple syrup if the lemon is too tart. Whirl it in a small blender or hit it with a stick blender and done.

Just adding this since it came to mind. It’s from a book I have called ”The Taste of Summer” by Diane Worthington. I‘ve used this for salads and as a marinade for chicken or veggies.

Summer Vinaigrette
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 T. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 T. finely chopped fresh chives
1 T. finely chopped fresh basil
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 T. fresh lemon juice
3 T. red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cup olive oil (I prefer less - about 1/2 cup)

My homemade bleu cheese or Thousand Island. I Like oil and vinegar also.

I make my own ranch based mostly on the Pioneer Woman's recipe she has on her website. It's the best. For bottled, we like Wishbone Italian.

Bob's sold at Safeway, Albertson's, Ralph's, Kroger... ? That Bob's?

Yes, that's it. Albertsons and Safeway are the same company - we only have Safeway up here and the ones near me don't carry the items. Ralphs is an old SoCal chain (now owned by Kroger but operated with some autonomy). Similarly, no Ralphs up here though there once were some.

The original Bob's location is/was in Burbank near the studios now called Warner Bros but that has gone by other names over the years including the Burbank Studios.

A search I did that was triggered by your post led me to the site I'll link below. At one time there must have been a dozen or more restaurant locations around SoCal (as coffee shop restaurants, after the drive-in fad passed) and I don't know if any remain beyond the one in Burbank. (For Silicon Valleyites, there used to be one ages ago on Winchester between the Mystery House and Stevens Creek. Long gone).

My wife met a friend for lunch at the Burbank location not all that long ago and said it was dreadful. Looking at the menu on the site, it's changed a lot. There used to be just three main things - the Big Boy Burger (call it a Combo and it came with fries and salad with the great dressing), chili, and a BLTA sandwich (A for avocado), also available in Combo form.

I wouldn't doubt that rights to the dressings and recipes were sold along the way. The restaurants are all but gone but the dressing is unchanged from decades ago and is fantastic.

Bob's

I can buy that in Nashville.

And since I have lived in both places, I happen to know that that same restaurant, is Shoney's in Nashville. He was known as the Shoney's Big Boy. Same name as their burger

Did a little more poking around and there's a Big Boy company with the same likeness in MI, but no Bobs in the name. I'm going to guess that it and the one in your area licensed the name, image, and menu terms.

Postwar SoCal gave birth to a lot of fast food and burger places, not necessarily a positive contribution to American cuisine. McDonalds, Carl's Jr, Taco Bell, Bob's Big Boy, In N Out, and others, including a smaller one or two with just a few locations (that still exist).

Sorry they both existed at the same time. Marketed differently probably but that's it. We did travel back and forth between both places. I live in Nashville now because my mom's family and my dad's family live here.

No need for you to speculate, it's as I suggested. A fellow named Bob Wien started Bob's in SoCal in the 1930s. The Wiki article, linked below, says that Shoneys was a licensee, beginning in the 1950s. It says further that the licensees could use the phrase "Big Boy" but not "Bob's". Interesting reading - there were far more Big Boys operated by licensees than by the owners. Only the original could use Bob's so they were behind the dressing and ultimately licensing it too.

It's since changed hands many times like most things.

Bobs Big Boy

I like classic Catalina, the best, then Italian and ranch

Raspberry vinaigrette is my go to. Yet different salads call for different dressings.

****Thank you Rob3333 and Lars,**** Rob for the link above to another salad dressing thread and Lars for the ranch dressing recipe there. Ranch is my favorite but I had stopped buying the bottled kind because they included msg. Now I can make my own!