Bloody Mary Salad Dressing: Apéritif without the Alcohol

You never know where you are going to get inspiration for a recipe you love. On our recent visit to South Dakota — not typically a land of culinary distinction — we found two recipes we now love.

One was the result of a visit to a Vietnamese-run, Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant in Rapid City where the chef-owner showed us how she made the delicious sautéed tofu (recipe to come) we enjoyed.

The other was the Bloody Mary dressing served on our green salad at Jake's in historic Deadwood. Jake's is right on main street but is hard to find because the sign is small — but the reward is huge. We had a great meal. And, if this sort of thing helps you go there, it is owned by Kevin Costner, who fell in love with Deadwood while filming "Dances With Wolves."

Our green salad was bathed lightly in a Bloody Mary dressing that awakened our taste buds.
With a little experience making Bloody Mary's, a little imagination and some vague help from the waiter, we've reconstructed the dressing:

Bloody Mary Salad Dressing

4 Tablespoons juice from a can of diced or whole tomatoes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons horseradish
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons tomato paste
pinch celery salt
Salt and pepper, to taste

Shake the above ingredients in a small jar or container.
In a bowl, mix greens with a little feta (optional) and halved cherry tomatoes (optional), then dress with some of the Bloody Mary dressing.

And, of course, if you want some alcohol with your salad, this dressing goes nicely with a Sauvignon Blanc or a crisp Chardonnay.

Refrigerate the leftover dressing and use again the next day or within a week.