How do you eat a salad without traditional dressing?

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  • dragonfly_66
    dragonfly_66 Posts: 48 Member
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    I either use balsamic vinegars (I have a jalapeno one rn) and no oil, or I mix a little olive oil with lemon juice and spice (like Greek spice)
    Orrr... I just top with homemade pico De Gallo. Yum
  • CTcutie
    CTcutie Posts: 649 Member
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    Sour cream (sometimes with lime juice), dill & chives, garlic, S&P... or sour cream mixed with hot sauce or BBQ sauce.
    At home/work: I put my salad in a mason jar or bowl, put "dressing" on top, cover & shake it up!
  • PowerliftingMom
    PowerliftingMom Posts: 430 Member
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    I make my own pico de gallo and use that as my salad dressing :smiley:
  • Adc7225
    Adc7225 Posts: 1,318 Member
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    As a start to ween yourself off the creamy dressings you can try eating the first half without any and the last half with a serving size of dressing, I do this. One other thing that helped me was pre-logging, when I really saw how many calories and how it was upping my totals I managed my salad without any or opted for a vinaigrette :)

    Some salads must have a creamy ranch ;)
  • Hawabashi
    Hawabashi Posts: 3 Member
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    I don't use dressing on my salads. I let the toppings give it flavor! Salsa is awesome. Seasoned rice vinegars are really yummy. I love a salad with crispy chicken and no dressing. The chicken and cheese alone adds enough flavor, and it's even better if there are also olives, banana peppers, and other flavorful things like that. Experiment with your toppings and you might be able to create a salad you enjoy without the dressing. :)
  • pineapple_jojo
    pineapple_jojo Posts: 440 Member
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    I just eat it plain, I've kind of got used to it
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
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    How about just drizzling on some good quality oil and sprinkling on some vinegar that is flavored. A pinch of salt, a dash of pepper and a snippet of green herb.
  • Tropicoolblonde
    Tropicoolblonde Posts: 70 Member
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    HOT SAUCE. mmm
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    I strictly use hot sauce. 5-10 calories (even though it says zero). Saves sooo much room for food I can chew.
  • jen3frg22
    jen3frg22 Posts: 24 Member
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    salsa or humus
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    Hummus!
  • LVNF04
    LVNF04 Posts: 2,607 Member
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    some people said salsa or hot sauce, ok what about sodium content? its extremely difficult to eat salad without dressing for me
  • attawayfamily4
    attawayfamily4 Posts: 4 Member
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    Try Marzetti Simply Dressed Light Vinagrettes. The Light Balsalmic Vinagrette is delicious. I cook with it too.
  • elephant_in_the_room
    elephant_in_the_room Posts: 145 Member
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    OK, here a trick that I haven't yet read in the answers:
    Substitute most of the oil with vegetable or other flavourful stock.
    E.g. where a standard dressing would be 4 teaspoons oil and 1 teaspoon vinegar, do only 1 teaspoon of olive oil, three teaspoons stock, 1tsp vinegar/lemon juice. Of course add whatever herbs you like, and if the stock contains no salt and you don't mind salt, then put in some of that as well.
  • threesixten
    threesixten Posts: 134 Member
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    One of my favorite salad dressings is carrot ginger. The recipe I have tailored to my tastes uses only 5-10ml sesame oil. The last time I made it here is what it was
    10 ml(s), Toasted Sesame Oil
    40 ml(s), Rice Vinegar
    17 g, Ginger Root, Raw
    28.00 g, Jalapeño
    67 gram, Yellow Onion, Fresh
    39 milliliter, Soy Sauce
    69 ml(s), Lime juice - Raw
    Just chop it up and blend w/ immersion blender. The texture is a little gritty but coats lettuces like romaine just fine. Usually I put in a salad just with grilled chicken and some cherry tomatoes.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    LVNF04 wrote: »
    some people said salsa or hot sauce, ok what about sodium content? its extremely difficult to eat salad without dressing for me

    I actually add salt to my salad after the hot sauce. I eat lot of sodium. I eat lowish carb and don't have any medical issues. .
  • smokinbluegrass
    smokinbluegrass Posts: 126 Member
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    I eat a giant salad (about 2 pounds) just about every weeknight. I changed it up so I wouldn't miss "dressing." I put in cut up strawberries (cheap and in season right now) and/or apples. I drizzle 1-2 tbsps of balsamic or golden balsamic vinegar or the juice of a lemon or a lime. Haven't missed "dressing" one bit, which is a bit of a surprise.
  • JohnnyPenso
    JohnnyPenso Posts: 412 Member
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    sabinaholtby wrote: »
    I always use Greek yogurt with mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. I add onions to my salad and Bell peppers. When I can afford the calories I love avocado. My favorite salads though are when I use seasoned meat! Nothing like a taco salad, that ground meat with taco seasoning is so so good!
    Same here. Greek yogurt makes an excellent base for experimenting with all kinds of creamy dressing recipes and as an added bonus it's high in protein so you get a protein boost while eating salad instead of just carbs and fat.

  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
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    Nancela wrote: »
    3 tablespoons olive oi, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, salt and pepper. Delicious on tossed salad. A little sugar won't hurt you. It's better than those high calorie creamy dressings. and tastes great.
    I'm hoping you have your ratios mixed up here or you mean this for an entire salad because 3 tablespoons of olive oil would be 360 calories. That would be more calories than a serving of your typical creamy dressing.

    I like Opa Blue Cheese and Ranch, Ken's Basil and Parm lowfat Italian and Bernstein's Cheese Fantastico. Sometimes just lemon, garlic and salad seasoning. Pico w/a dab of sour cream or a light vinaigrette w/a sprinkle of really good blue cheese.

    I learned years ago from watching my "naturally" thin step mother to put my salad in a slightly larger bowl, add the serving of dressing then cut up/mix it really well.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    smokinbluegrass wrote: »
    I eat a giant salad (about 2 pounds) just about every weeknight. I changed it up so I wouldn't miss "dressing." I put in cut up strawberries (cheap and in season right now) and/or apples. I drizzle 1-2 tbsps of balsamic or golden balsamic vinegar or the juice of a lemon or a lime. Haven't missed "dressing" one bit, which is a bit of a surprise.

    I'd consider balsamic vinegar a dressing (although a really low cal one, of course). Same with something like vinegar plus mustard. So that wouldn't surprise me. Agree that with the right salad lemon or lime can work too, although adding olive oil too (oil and vinegar being the most classic of dressings) usually helps me meet my calorie goals.

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