Pesach Salads (Part III): Homemade Mayonnaise

Click here for Pesach Salads Part II (salad nicoise and classic caesar dressing) and Part I (superfood chopped salad with an amazing citrus basil vinaigrette).

In my opinion, there's nothing worse than kosher for passover mayonnaise. I have no idea why it tastes so awful, because mayonnaise is simply an emulsion of egg yolks and oil. If you have a food processor or stand mixer that is kosher for passover, then you have the ability to make delicious Pesach homemade mayonnaise (as good, or better than Hellman's, I think!), and you can add garlic and herbs to it in order to make herbed mayo, or you can add horseradish puree to make a chrain mayo for gefilte fish. This will also greatly improve any tuna or egg salads you make, and since it's so easy to make, I would wager some people might even make homemade mayo the rest of the year too.

1 cup of light olive oil, canola, safflower or other light-tasting oil
1 egg
Juice of 1 lemon, and/or white wine vinegar (I start with the juice of half a lemon, and then about 2-3 tsp of vinegar at the end to get the right taste)
Pinch of salt (to taste)
Water to thin the mayonnaise, if necessary

In a food processor or mixer, pulse or beat the egg and the lemon juice together continuously until it turns a full shade or two lighter, very light yellow and frothy. Begin adding oil very slowly in a steady stream, with the processor on. As the mayonnaise starts to thicken and lighten, you made need to add some water to thin it. If your mayonnaise never emulsifies (very unlikely if you use a food processor), you can try adding another egg yolk, or simply start over. This is very, very easy. Taste as you go along, and add more lemon and/or vinegar to get the mayonnaise taste you prefer.

As difficult as it is, it can be made in about ten minutes of whisking by hand. If making by hand, having someone else stream in the oil as you whisk. (Variations: to make garlic mayonnaise, puree a clove of garlic before pureeing the egg and lemon juice, remove it, and then fold it in later, or add your favorite chopped herbs after you've created plain mayo, to make herbed mayo).