Pam Powell says she owes her success to being a lazy cook.
The artist, designer and girl behind the popular Salad Girl dressings said, "Tossing together a great salad is so much simpler than having to follow a recipe and being precise; I just don't have the patience for that."
Nearly six years ago, Powell parleyed that "fun" into a line of seven hyper-fresh, organic vinaigrettes now available in close to 400 stores throughout the region and along the West Coast.
Her salad days began one summer when, as a teen, she worked in the kitchen at Madden's Resort on Gull Lake in Brainerd. "I got to help the 'real' salad girl prep all the fresh farm lettuce, cabbage, spinach, sugar snap peas. I loved it," she said. Along with her day job as an artist and graphic designer, she'd whip up vinaigrettes for friends, first as gifts and then for sale.
In 2007, with support from her family, Powell began bottling her homemade concoctions for a stand at the Mill City Farmers Market and, before too long Salad Girl Inc. was launched. "It took some time to convince produce buyers that this dressing is different, fresher, worth the price. We did a ton of sampling, because you can taste the difference," she said. "I begged and pleaded."
In 2012, Salad Girl dressings teamed up with the Roots for the Home Team youth-run concession stand at Target Field. These freshly dressed salads are created with produce from a variety of Twin Cities youth gardening programs. Concession proceeds are then plowed back into the youth garden and education programs. "Eating fresh, organic goodness benefits us individually, communally and environmentally," Powell says.
The Salad Girl dressings are cold-processed, never heated, so they taste freshly made. They are made with certified organic ingredients and contain no sugar, no high-fructose corn syrup or stabilizers.
She also has a balsamic raw-cacoa vinaigrette that will soon hit the market. Powell is also expanding the line with new products that are vegan-friendly, using maple syrup and fruit juice instead of honey.
Her Salad Girl blog, which reflects her illustrations, features recipes for seasonal toss-ups with products from small local food companies (including Locally Laid Eggs, Sartori and Organic Valley cheeses). It offers ideas for turning the dressing into dips and glazes for roasted vegetables and meats.
Here's a tip, from this "lazy" cook to another: Drizzle the Salad Girl's Toasted Sesame Vinaigrette over soba noodles, chicken and sliced green onions, brush the Pomegranate Pear Vinaigrette over pork chops on the grill, or sprinkle the Crisp Apple Maple variety over a toasted open-faced grilled cheese sandwich. People will think you've whipped these up from scratch. I won't tell them differently.
About $7 per 8-ounce bottle. Salad Girl dressings are widely available in local supermarkets and food co-ops. See saladgirl.com.
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