Best Dressing Recipes

A great recipe to try if you're looking for a new spin on the usual lunch salad. Recipe courtesy of Chef Tom Colicchio

To be honest, I’ve never really liked cucumbers — until now. This light salad is both refreshing and flavorful, and makes the perfect side dish for dinner. The vinegar provides just enough kick to keep you reaching back for more, and the soy keeps blandness at bay. It can be made in less than 10 minutes, so there’s no excuse not to try it! Click here to see 6 Cool and Creative Ways to Use Cucumber.

While normal ranch is laden with fats and additives, this yogurt-based alternative is a healthy way to make your salad more satisfying.

There's a trendy, Cambodian-inspired sandwich shop in Manhattan called Num Pang that makes a pretty mean tofu sandwich. Such was the inspiration behind my very own version. Mine traces its roots back to Indonesian cuisine, though, with a peanut dressing that's common on dishes like Gado Gado. Also, just as an aside: While writing this recipe I suddenly realized this would have been really good with some cucumbers and cooked bean sprouts instead of lettuce. Just a thought. Click here to see Tofu Can Be Delicious — 6 Great Recipes.

Here is a recipe I adapted from the cooking of Kurt Gardner, a New York theater man of great culinary passions who has been contributing the dish to our home for years, usually in proportions large enough to feed boroughs. Rare is the month where there is not a frozen bag of this stuff in our freezer, ready to be deployed.