Saucery Is Magic

A challenge for the home cook is making a lot out of a little and giving wholesome but unexciting dishes pizazz. Adding salad dressing or a simple sauce to a good but dull-tasting dish often does the trick.

Any mild white fish, such as cod, sand dab or sole, will benefit from the deep, nutty flavor of a brown butter sauce, and it is one of the quickest and easiest, if often overlooked, sauces to make. Spoon some on zucchini, cauliflower, a baked potato or asparagus. If you add a little honey and dried sage, it will give just the right finish to banana, hubbard and acorn squash or carrots.

Blue cheese dressing does wonders for broccoli, noodles and brown rice.

The possibilities are many, but always taste little samples of what you are trying just in case it isn’t a good combination. You don’t want to ruin the whole thing.

OLIVE OIL, VINEGAR AND PARSLEY DRESSING

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 tablespoons cold water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

Combine vinegar, water, salt, pepper, olive oil and parsley in 1-pint jar, screw on lid and shake well. Refrigerate.

Variation: Add 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon creamy horseradish or 3 lightly salted and finely chopped cloves garlic.

1 cup. Each 1-tablespoon serving:

90 calories; 74 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 0 carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

CREAMY BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

If you want this dressing thinner and more sauce-like, add milk and stir until it is the consistency you want.

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 ounces blue cheese, finely crumbled

Put mayonnaise, buttermilk, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper to taste and blue cheese in mixing bowl. Stir briskly until well mixed and blue cheese is in tiny bits. Refrigerate.

3/4 cup. Each 1-tablespoon serving:

58 calories; 189 mg sodium; 6 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

BROWN BUTTER SAUCE

Don’t use a skillet or pan with a black interior, such as a nonstick finish, because you won’t be able to see the browning process.

If you are going to use the sauce on hard-shelled squash or carrots, add 2 tablespoons honey and 1 teaspoon crumbled dried sage.

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter

Cut butter into 5 or 6 pieces. Melt in small saucepan over medium-high heat, watching constantly, until it begins to foam, about 1 minute. Swirl butter in bottom of pan until it turns light caramel color, 1 to 2 minutes. Cook about 5 seconds longer, remove from heat and stir once or twice. If saving for later use, let cool 10 minutes, pour into jar, cover and refrigerate.

1/2 cup. Each 1-tablespoon serving:

102 calories; 117 mg sodium; 31 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 0 carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0 fiber.

* Foglia plates from Arciero Winery, Pasadena