Austin-based Lillian s Salad Dressing hits Central Market shelves
Barbara Geller s grandmother made a memorable garlic-filled salad dressing for many decades of her life.
Geller, a nurse practitioner in Austin, remembers eating it since she was a child in San Antonio. As an adult, she found new ways to use it, such as tossing with roasted vegetables or marinating meat and tofu. The only thing it doesn t go with is ice cream, she says.
For the past several years, she has been making and selling the dressing, first sold by word of mouth and then at the Pedernales Farmers Market. A 16-ounce bottled version of the sugar-free, gluten-free dressing is now sold in neighborhood stores, including Thom s Markets, Dia s Market, Royal Blue San Antonio and Hoekstra Bros in Spicewood, and as of late May, the product is in Central Market stores across the state.
Dear readers, this is my farewell column as the American-Statesman food writer.
On June 1, I ll hang up my apron, stack up the cookbooks and pass on the test kitchen gear to the next person to take on this life-changing position at Austin’s daily newspaper.
When I say, “Dear readers,” I mean it. From my first column in 2008 to today, the fine people who read this column in print with their coffee and via Facebook in the school pickup line have held an incredibly special place in my heart.
I have kept your business cards, your emails and screenshots of your direct messages on social media in my digital and physical archive. I still have a physical copy of (almost) every food section I’ve published. Because of your kindness and willingness to connect, my kids will have memories of being stopped in the grocery store by someone who tells me they love trying new recipes and reading stories in the food section.
Plant-based meats have been in the news lately, but I’ve been thinking about plant-based fish.
First, an update on the proposed Texas Meat and Imitation Food Act, a piece of state legislation that would prevent companies that make plant-based proteins from using the word meat,” “beef, chicken, pork or any common variation of them to describe the product, even if only to claim similar textures, flavors or cooking methods.
The bill, H.B. 3799, recently passed in the House and will move on to the Senate, where we’ll hear more testimony from ranchers and food manufacturers on an issue that has been causing plenty of political tussles in recent years.