Just when we allllllll thought we were safe from the barrage of Don't Worry Darling-adjacent drama, antics, and headlines, a new development within the never-boring Olivia Wilde Cinematic Universe has come to light — but at least it's...kind of tasty?
Here's the gist: On Monday, the Daily Mail published an exclusive in which the alleged ex-nanny to Wilde and Jason Sudeikis's children spilled some major tea about the couple. It's...absolute chaos, really, but the nanny's details that sent the internet into a full-out frenzy were the following: a) Olivia Wilde made her "special [salad] dressing" for Harry Styles while in her own home with Sudeikis — suggesting that the two were having an affair — and b) in an effort to prevent Wilde from taking the "special" dressing to Styles, Sudeikis laid under her car.
In a surprise to absolutely no one, Twitter erupted over what the "special dressing" could possibly be. Vulture even did a deep-dive into possible contenders for said dressing. But now, most people on the internet have honed in on one particular dressing as the "special" one she supposedly whipped up for Styles (to Sudeikis's alleged dismay).
Back in 2020, Food Network produced a special called Questlove's Potluck. It was giving full height-of-the-pandemic realness: A bunch of uber-famous celebrities shared their favorite recipes with Quest, virtually, via their shockingly unstable internet connections. Among them was Ms. Olivia Wilde herself, who shared her recipe for Salmon Salad with Zucchini and Potatoes. Included in the recipe is a simple salad dressing, and it's been chosen by the internet as the most likely contender.
To figure out if this "special" salad dressing was worth lying underneath a vehicle for, I decided to make it in my own kitchen.
Now listen, I was not about to whip up the whole damn meal. The nanny said she was making her special dressing — *not* her special poached salmon salad. I have to imagine that the nanny would have remembered if Olivia were roasting fish at the time?! And also, like, there's no universe in which that salmon would travel well. (Come to think of it...why didn't she just make it at Harry's house? IDK, I'm honestly lost.) All this to say that I concentrated on the dressing only — none of the other accoutrements.
Oddly enough, the dressing at the center of this rumored love triangle is basically just a version of a French vinaigrette, with a couple of modifications. Revolutionary? No. But sometimes it's best not to reinvent the wheel. To make it, all I needed was a handful of ingredients:
STEP #1: Finely chop the garlic. I smashed it, peeled it, and chopped away, and then I added it to a medium mixing bowl.
STEP #2: Add the vinegar, mustard, honey, and salt to the garlic, and whisk to combine.
It looked basic, TBH!
But basic or not, it really did seem to transport me to the Wilde-Sudeikis kitchen.
STEP #3: Whisk the vinegar mixture while streaming in the olive oil.
If you did it right, your dressing will look totally emulsified and almost creamy — like so:
That's it!
I found some sad-looking kale in my fridge and shredded it up as the base for my Harry Styles Salad.
I even toasted some bread crumbs for a bit of texture! It's your salad. Top it as you will.
The verdict? It's...salad. The dressing is good, but by no means "special." Maybe Sudeikis has some easily impressed tastebuds? But if I were him, I'm not exactly sure I'd be worried about this dressing blowing my ex's new man away. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
However — after I finished my lunch, cleaned up my kitchen, and sat down to write this post, I noticed something rather peculiar about the salad...
...and it was the unmistakable stench of garlic on my own breath.
You mean to tell me that Olivia Wilde, who has likely cooked this recipe enough times to colloquially refer to it as her "special dressing," would serve this tasty-but-pungently-garlicky dressing to a man she was allegedly having an affair with?! And not just any man: Harry Styles?! IDK. But I think I call BS here.
Maybe the internet got it wrong, and her "special dressing" is one that she hasn't (yet) shared with Food Network or the world. Maybe Harry Styles has a thing for garlic breath. Or maybe Olivia has a thing for garlic breath. No judgment here. But alas, I'm afraid we've been left with more questions than answers here.
