The Refreshing Citrus Martha Stewart Uses In Salad Dressing

Martha Stewart is truly the O.G. of homemakers and lifestyle gurus. Stewart is always offering tips to help us up our game when it comes to entertaining and making meals you don't want to end. The culinary queen has shared her 4-ingredient summer cocktail to refresh you on a hot summer day along with the one-pan pasta that is most deserving of its fame. Stewart has also made her views known about the underrated lettuce she prefers for salad. But now, we are getting a look behind her magic curtain and learning how to make the perfect vinaigrette salad dressing with a refreshing citrus Stewart loves — but you may not be familiar with.

According to Food Network, at its most basic, a vinaigrette uses a 1 part acid to 3 part oil ratio, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, to achieve just the right amount tang to coat your garden veggies and fruits or to marinate your go-to fish or chicken for family dinners. As Epicurious notes, a vinaigrette is really like a blank canvas that offers its creator plenty of opportunities to customize it with ingredients like mustard, maple syrup, miso, or lemon. 

Stewart definitely exercises this option with a favored Asian citrus that has our mouths watering.  

During a cooking segment on YouTube, Martha Stewart reveals that when it comes to making her vinaigrettes, she favors using the tart and sweet flavors of a yuzu citrus fruit, which she explains is a cross between a lime and lemon — but with lumpy skin. The yuzu fruits were once imported from Japan, however, Stewart shares growers in California have begun producing what she describes as a "very flavorful" and "very fragrant" fruit. According to her website, the yuzu has many seeds and less juice than the typical lemon. It is a fruit whose flavor can add value when it is either ripe or unripe with both its zest and juice imparting distinct flavors. Of course, Stewart's site also cautions that you can expect to pay a little more for this hard to come by fruit.

But, vinaigrettes are not the only recipes Stewart uses this fruit in. She also likes to add them to her juices, in a glaze for her salmon, and even in a dipping sauce. Yuzu fruit, per Flick of the Whisk, is also popular to use when making ice cream. Of course, Yuzu fruits are not easy to find, but according to Whole Foods, the grocery market offers Yuzu juice in some stores.