Creating a Great Salad Experience

With the growing focus on healthy eating, offering high quality, flavorful salads helps satisfy the increased demand while keeping customers coming back for more. And even though it all starts with good quality fresh produce, the difference between a good salad and an exceptional one is really all about the dressing, which can make or break the entire experience. A high quality salad dressing will complement the salad ingredients and is typically what is best remembered about that great salad.  

“It’s just a bit different from the last time I made it.”  Have you ever thought this when making dressings from scratch? Or worse - heard a customer question your consistency? While salad dressing is relatively easy to make in-house and some operators choose to make their own “Special Recipe or Signature Sauce,” the difficulty lies in making that signature dressing the same, consistently, time after time.

This desire to offer unique and flavorful dressings to operators is the driving force behind our Village Garden and Piancone Premium Dressings and Sauces.  Utilizing special formulas and only the freshest ingredients, patrons will think they were made from scratch in the kitchen, and best of all, they can help to maintain that consistency that your customers expect.

Village Garden offers a wide selection of premium items, covering a broad range of menu applications and operator needs.  From our famous Cobblestone Blue Cheese to our Hot Bacon Honey Mustard or Tuscany Balsamic Vinaigrette, we have over 16 flavors available in gallon sizes as well as convenient portion control for that great salad on the go.

If you are looking for a unique and flavorful formulation that will make your salad truly exceptional, all of our Piancone Dressings will fit the bill. Piancone dressings have a flair for the Mediterranean with unique offerings like Chianti & Basil Vinaigrette, Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic, Creamy Gorgonzola, and many more. Our Piancone dressings are always consistent in look and taste and will cling to the ingredients of the salad, making every bite just as delicious as the other.

And, one of the best things about our Piancone and Village Garden dressings is that they are multiple-use!  While they all can top a salad with the best of them, these dressings can also be used as tasty marinades and unique dipping sauces.

For those who like to add some of their own special salad ingredients, here are some great ingredient add-in ideas:

Dried Cherries                                              

Anchovy Paste                                        

Artichoke Hearts, Chopped

Dried Cranberries                                       

Chives, chopped                                    

Green Onion, chopped        

Capers                                                            

Caperberries                                           

Any Mushroom, chopped

Caviar                                                            

Chutney                                                   

Chilis or Peppers, chopped

Wasabi, peas or paste                                

Figs, chopped                                          

Fruit Spreads                      

Ginger or Sushi Ginger                               

Jalepenos, chopped                              

Lemon Grass, chopped     

Mango, chopped                                         

Any Spicy Mustards                                

Melba Sauce                        

Calamata Olives, chopped  (or any variety of olive)           

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Cracked Peppercorns                                 

Pesto                                                          

Sun-dried Tomatoes  

Chef Ed Hornyak

Corporate Executive Chef, Certified Angus Beef and Center of the Plate Specialist
Performance Foodservice - Little Rock