Tarragon Nut Dressing

This is dedicated to my Cortes neighbor Izzy who gives me many wonderful herbs and vegetables from her beautiful Garden

When fresh herbs become available in late spring you can make all kinds of healthy dressings to put over any salad or vegetable medley. This dressing works great over a lone beet, yam or turnip that you want to use up. I was given some fresh tarragon by neighbour Izzy and found this recipe on the net by typing "tarragon dressing" and then playing around with all the wonderful recipes that appeared.

Ingredients:

• Nuts (almond, pine, cashew etc 1/2 cup)
• Onion (any kind including green onion, ¼ cup)
• Lemon Juice (1/2 squeezed)
• Garlic (2 cloves)
• Tarragon (1/2 cup)
• Olive Oil (3 tbs to one cup)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

The secret to this one is not to let the nuts over power the dressing. Tarragon can be rather strong but you want it to be the flag carrier here. Mix all the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor. Add 3 tbs of olive oil for the last 5 seconds. Put the mix in a jar and add as much oil as you like, at least enough to cover it and stir thoroughly. The amount above makes enough to put lots over 4 salads. You may want to make enough to last a week or more so just be sure to put the rest in a covered container with enough oil to cover the mix. If you want a tradition dressing then you may add a cup or more of the Olive Oil to the mix so that it pours. I add a lot less oil and spoon it over the salad and then mix it into the salad. I like a chunky dressing  (Almost pestolike) and want to taste lots of tarragon in every bite. You may have a different preference so play around with this. Of course any herb will do in place of the Tarragon. Oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, cilantro even sage makes a nice dressing. I would like suggestions on other herbs to use here especially local wild herbs from the forest. The addition of onion and much more nuts and oil separate this from a pesto. Salud!