Whipping up a batch of tasty salad dressing is certainly one of life’s simpler tasks.

Take your basic vinaigrette: oil and vinegar with additional flavorings, such as fresh garlic and herbs, to taste. That’s pretty much it.

Contrary to what some opinionated celebrity chefs would have you believe, there is not a strict rule regarding the ratio of oil to vinegar. It’s a matter of taste — your taste.

So if you like a zesty salad dressing, then by all means consider a few extra glugs of vinegar when it comes to uniting it with the oil. The vinaigrette police will not throw you in the slammer.

On the other hand, the use of bottled dressings in the middle of summer when fresh local greens deserve the very best. Now that’s a crime.

One way to make sure you’re stocked with homemade vinaigrette is to assemble a big batch of my Amazing Vinaigrette Base. I try to remind you of this wonderful concoction every few summers or so. The concept came to me one evening, several years ago, as I was making a week’s worth of vinaigrette. I’d minced and smooshed a handful of fresh garlic cloves with a bit of salt and whisked this into some red wine vinegar.

I had also whisked in a generous amount of fresh-ground black pepper and spoonful of sugar. Just as I was about to add the olive oil I had an epiphany: Wait!

You see, when olive oil is chilled it gets thick. Where do we store homemade vinaigrette? In the refrigerator, of course, to keep all the herbs and garlic fresh.

But when you go to use the vinaigrette — if you haven’t thought ahead and removed it from the fridge — the olive oil is thick and gunky until it gets up to room temperature.

This rare thunderbolt of wisdom made me realize something. If I don’t add the olive oil to my batch of seasoned vinegar, then I’ve created a vinaigrette base loaded with gobs of minced garlic, fresh-ground peppercorns, some salt and a pinch of sugar. I could store this mixture in the refrigerator and keep the olive oil in the pantry at room temperature. Then, whenever I’m ready to toss the evening salad, just pour a bit of the zesty vinaigrette base into a cup and whisk in the desired amount of olive oil.

I’ve also learned how to make delectable spinoffs from the base over the years. For a zesty blue cheese dressing, simply drizzle a healthy dose of the vinaigrette base into a block of good quality blue cheese and smoosh and stir with a fork until it has achieved a sort of creamy-clumpy goodness. For an extra level of flavor and richness (plus, it helps marry the vinegar to the cheese) pour in a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Simple, right?

Beyond the recipe for my vinaigrette base, I’m providing you with some spinoffs that will really make salad making a breeze in the months ahead. Thus, I encourage you to whip up a batch while fresh greens are local and salads are a regular — if not nightly — event.

— Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com, or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.