Kitchen Sink Salad Dressing

I thought I would share this damningly delicious, light salad dressing I just nearly spilled all over myself. It's entirely composed of the random little jars and tubes of things I have laying around the fridge and pantry! I am a salad nicoise's biggest fan, so most of the time, when I make my own salad dressing, it ends up in a form somewhat similar to nicoise dressing. The greatest salad nicoise I ever had the supreme luck to enjoy was at a strange little bistro at the edge of the Bowery in New York, at about ten o'clock at night when we were half-starved from traipsing around the city for the College Music Journal festival. The waiters had tattoos galore, the chef was an old French woman who yelled at them, and Edith Piaf played in the background.

Change around the herbs and proportions to your own taste, or add some sour cream to make more of a caesar-type dressing!

1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. basil, dried or fresh
1/4 tsp. herbs de Provence
2 tsp. olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. anchovy paste
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. white wine
1 tbsp. honey

Whisk all ingredients together with a fork and let sit until you want salad. Anchovy paste, when outside its tube, will not keep for very long, so don't let this sit out for more than a few hours. The dressing will be tangy and salty and just a teensy bit spicy...if you want a thicker version, omit the wine and add more honey or mustard to your liking. Enjoy on salad greens with feta cheese and olives, green beans, tuna steak, potatoes, carrots, or all of the above put together. For me, I've got black olives, a bag of whole organic sweet carrots, and half a head of red lettuce with NICOISE written all over it.