How do you eat a salad without traditional dressing?

jessiferrrb

hummus does nicely for me in a pinch, but i also like the opa greek yogurt dressings or making my own. balsamic, olive oil, dijon and a small dab of honey is awesome.

vnb_208

Already mention but Salsa or Bolthouse Greek yogurt dressing blue cheese is 35 cals per 2 tablespoons!

abbynormalartist

I didn't know about Bolthouse dressing and just looked it up - it's 100 calories less than my usual dressing! Awesome! Thank you! I'm grabbing some today!

FaatSara

I don't skip the dressing at all. The key to a successful diet is to make sure it's not boring, in my opinion. If I am eating a plate full of greens and otherwise healthy veggies why not throw some buttermilk ranch on it? I just use a small amount of dressing. I like having it in a small container and dipping the tip of my fork before poking the veggies. The small amount of buttermilk ranch I use has less calories than my girlfriends crappy, boring light dressings.

caysea

I make a mixture of coconut aminos (much less salty than soy sauce), grainy dijon mustard and course ground black pepper. Sounds weird but it's delish and packs a ton of flavor.

junodog1

If you like vinegar, but just some new tastes, there are flavored vinegars. Olive oil shops usually sell this.

I am currently in love with a balsamic vinegar I get at Publix (can't remember the brand) and a Champagne Mimosa vinegar I got in an olive oil shop.

However, lots of people are not a fan of the sharpness of vinegar alone on a salad.

Lourdesong

dollop of cottage cheese and/or a dollop of Greek yogurt. Sometimes add salsa and/or guacamole.

Penthesilea514

I love using salsa as a dressing for salads and most of my salads use this. Otherwise, balsamic vinaigrette is good for me. Sometimes I will use the "real deal"- but only if I don't have another option.

rheddmobile

If you're desperate to cut calories, spray olive oil can get you the flavor of olive oil for a fraction the calories, because it coats so well. But in general a little healthy oil is worth it, 1/4 tbsp to 1 tbsp vinegar. I like even more strongly flavored oils sometimes, such as sesame. Adding crushed garlic, spices, and herbs to dressing amps up the flavor.

My favorite Asian dressing is sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, diced green onion (the white part) and grated ginger. Substitute peanut butter for the oil and lime for the lemon, voila, Thai dressing. Good on cucumber salad with edamame.

estherdragonbat

This is a bit too heavy for a lettuce-based salad, but one go-to lunch of mine is a hearty salad based around corn niblets, sliced veggie dog, tomato, cucumber, pickle, hot pepper, and something from the onion family. Sometimes other 'non-wilting' veggies thrown in. To this, I add 1/4-cup of salsa, 1 tbsp vegan sour cream, and 1 tbsp sweet pickle relish.

callsitlikeiseeit

i use the bolthouse farms yogurt dressings the majority of the time. kraft has a ceamy poppyseed thats not high in calories. plenty of options if you look.

Athijade

The thought of using Walden Farms products makes me want to be sick. That stuff is so gross! Ugh!

Now, I do like Bolthouse Farms dressings. I also often make my own. However, I usually just get normal dressing, count the calories, measure it our, and then shake the heck out of my salad. This way the flavor is mixed into the whole of the salad really well and I stay within my serving sizes.

missmadsbrown

Honestly - yellow mustard, dijon mustard and white vinegar (if you like it sweeter you can add splenda or some other sweetener) but it is almost no calories and tastes amazing!!

anaxmann

I second the fork dipping tip and some of the lower calorie dressing options (Bolthouse and Litehouse). I like to put olives and pepperoncinis (banana peppers) on my salads as replacement for dressing. Olives have a few calories, but you can pretty much have however many pepperoncinis you want. I also like to go to the olive oil and vinegar store and pick up special vinegars to put on my salads (strawberry, cherry, lime, so many options).

japinso

They have light version on most dressings but I find the light or fat free Italian dressings to be best. If I want a little extra flavor I just add some hot sauce, sriracha, cholula or something like that. They actually aren't too high in sodium and have little to no calories. Also I have found that using a deli mustard, if you like mustard, is actually a pretty tasty dressing.

mrsdumbuya100

I make my own

Need2Exerc1se

I always make my own dressings, usually starting with apples cider vinegar and olive oil. If I want it creamy I'll add a teaspoon or so of mayo. If I want it really simple, I go for just balsamic vinegar and olive oil. If I want taste without calories, I use only balsamic (this is especially good if fruit is included in the salad).

vjambois

I second the salsa idea, I use that in my tuna salad. I also use the Bolthouse dressing and Whole Foods has a bunch of no-olive oil dressings that are low in calories. You can also get away with using less dressing if you toss the dressing and salad.

XshakyX

Use dry Italian mix with white vinegar olive oil & water. Directions on back of packet.

Aarjono

I love dijon mustard on a salad!!