basic information about salad.

Dressings
A green salad is often served with a dressing. Some examples include:
Balsamic vinegar
Caesar dressing
Italian dressing
Mayonnaise
Blue cheese dressing
Green goddess dressing
Louis dressing
Ranch dressing
Russian dressing
Thousand Island dressing
Olive oil
French dressing
Tahini
Vinaigrette
Wafu dressing

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salad_dressing#Dressings

Definition

Vinaigrette is a mixture of vinegar (or sometimes lemon juice) and vegetable oil, often flavored with herbs, spices, and other ingredients. Commercial preparations are often emulsified with lecithin or similar additives, while fresh preparations can be more weakly emulsified with mustard or left as mixtures that will separate. Vinaigrettes are used as sauces in many cuisines, and as salad dressings. This is the most common use of the word. See also French dressing.

Mayonnaise (or Mayo in its abbreviated form) is a thick sauce made primarily from vegetable oil and egg yolks.[1] Generally whitish-yellow in color, it is a stable emulsion formed from the oil and yolks and is generally flavored with mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, and/or lemon juice. Numerous other sauces can be created from it by adding additional seasonings (see below).

Japan

Japanese Mayonnaise in squeeze bottle, Kewpie brand
Japanese mayonnaise, typically made with rice vinegar, tastes somewhat different from mayonnaise made from distilled vinegar and is yellowish in appearance. It is most often sold in soft plastic squeeze bottles. Apart from salads, it is popular with dishes such as okonomiyaki, takoyaki and yakisoba. It is sometimes served with cooked vegetables, or mixed with soy sauce or wasabi and used as dips. In the Tōkai region, it is a frequent condiment on hiyashi chuka (cold noodle salad).
Kewpie (Q.P.) is the most popular brand of Japanese mayonnaise, advertised with a Kewpie doll logo.
People who are known to like Mayonnaise are commonly called 'Mayora' (マヨラー) by their friends.

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayonnaise

Recipes
Peanut Miso Dressing and Dipping Sauce Recipe
Ingredients:1 Large clove garlic, peeled2-Inch chunk fresh ginger, trimmed and cut into eighths1/3 to 1/2 cup hot water1/2 cup nonhydrogenated, unsalted peanut butter2 Tablespoons sweet white misoAbout 1 tablespoon shoyu3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juiceChili oil or ground cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:With the motor of the food processor running, pop the garlic and then the ginger through the feed tube and continue to process until they are finely chopped. Remove the lid, scrape down the work bowl, and add 1/3 cup of water, the peanut butter, miso, and shoyu. Blend until smooth.Add the lime juice and a dash of chili oil (if using), and pulse a few times to distribute. Thin with additional water, if you wish. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Shake well before each use and thin with extra lime juice or water if the mixture thickens on standing.
The combination of miso and rich peanut butter creates an exciting dressing and dipping sauce that can be prepared in a flash. I usually use one-third cup water for a thickish dipping sauce, and thin the mixture with a few additional tablespoons of water for a dressing.
I'm partial to the way sweet white miso accentuates the delicate sweetness of good fresh peanut butter, but you can experiment by substituting saltier barley miso and reducing the shoyu accordingly.