Zesty Lemon Garlic Salad Dressing with Fresh Black Pepper

Preparation Peel and mince the garlic (you can use a garlic press, if you like—I find presses bring out the bitterness in garlic, but others don't seem to mind it!). If you're making salad in the next few hours, put the garlic in a large salad bowl. If you're making the dressing ahead of time, put the garlic in a seal-able jar.Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and mustard. Whisk to combine everything (or seal and shake the jar). Whisk in the olive oil (or, again, seal the jar and shake it vigorously). Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste. If the dressing is too zingy for you, feel free to add more olive oil to soften the flavor. A bit more salt will help tempter the acid kick, too.Use the dressing immediately (just add the greens to that big bowl and toss!) or store, covered and chilled, up to 1 week (the olive oil will solidify in the refrigerator, but it will melt quite quickly when set out at room temperature again).Make-Ahead Tip: Make the dressing for a salad later that day in the bowl, top with washed and dried greens, and lay a damp (but not wet) paper towel over the leaves. Keep chilled until ready to serve, up to 6 or 8 hours.Variations:Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of fresh minced herbs—parsley, mint, chervil, or dill are excellent choices.Use walnut oil or avocado oil instead of olive oilTone down the lemon flavor by leaving out the lemon zestMix up the flavor with a bit of orange zest in the mixDitch the garlic—just leave it out or use a shallot or green onion for a less intense flavor Punch things up by using 1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard instead of the ground mustard