Salad dressing??

whateverr120

I don't know what to use without sabotaging myself? Is extra V olive oil and vinegar okay? how much is okay to use for lets say 2 cups of salad? And what are some other good dressings (homemade OR store bought)? I like lemon and extra V olive oil also, but again I'm not sure if the oil is okay to use. I know creamy dressings such as ranch, ceasar, french are bad... but other than that I'm lost.

Timkerbelle

If you want a creamy dressing you can make one quite easily (if you have a food processor) from nuts or seeds, for instance sunflower seeds or cashews. Soak the seeds or nuts for a few hours and blend with water and maybe a little vinegar and salt/spices until creamy. They DO have a high calorie count, but of course it's all good stuff!
I also find that spices really make a huge difference in a salad. A little salt and herbs make the difference between bland and yummy imo (but then again I'm a bit of a salt fiend)

mcsolis

my favorate dressing is light rasberry viniagrette and be sure to serve it on the side with your salads you will find that you will eat less that way instead of pouring it on your salad

pinkita

I like Newman's Own Light varieties, especially the Ginger Sesame one. One serving = 2 Tbsps but if my salad is small 1 Tbsp is enough.

k4evans1

I use equal parts apple cider vinegar to EVOO and add a splash of agave. That's my fav

Jessicaruby

i use salsa...my favorite is the trader joes pineapple salsa...it is so YUMMY

ajbeans

Why wouldn't it be "okay" to use? It's olive oil. It's a good fat that's good for you. Don't douse your salad by the gallon and it's fine.

I like using sun-dried tomato vinaigrette on my salad. It's nomz.

rc630

Whatever kind you decide to use, try to master the art of "salad shaking" haha... Many people pour dressing right onto their salad and have to use a lot of get it distributed to all the leaves, but if you just put one tablespoon or less for 2 cups and you shake the salad (put one bowl on top of the other with both bottoms facing out and shake it, or cover with plastic wrap and shake), it gets the flavor distributed while using much less

stronglikebull

just go by the serving size on the bottle.. read the ingredients and nutrition facts and decide what you want to eat. simple as that.

Espressocycle

Fat free ranch is actually pretty great.

MsMuniz

I use white balsamic vinegar and lemon, but Newman's Own makes some great lowfat and fat free dressings...just make sure to measure out your servings.

Lisa__Michelle

Kraft Fat Free Caesar Italian dressing is really good and not a "creamy" dressing!

kel9680

wish bone fat free italian is really good too, I think it tastes just like regular Italian, and its only 15 calories in 2 tbs, or I'll just get low fat or fat free ranch, hidden valley lowfat ranch tastes the same as the regular too!

shauna121211

My advice would to be measure it when you put it on and then log it! I typically use EVOO and balsamic or raspberry vinegar, but I've also made some tasty dressings using additional ingredients.

For example, this recipe has the yummiest dressing: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/strawberry-and-feta-salad/detail.aspx

I don't use nearly as much on my salad as the recipe suggests, so it's not too bad. And totally worth it... This whole salad is mouth watering good! haha

crzyone

I don't like the fat free kinds, so I allow real Ranch as one of the things I'm not giving up. I count it in my totals though.....

sandy2006

I found the wishbone Salad Spritzers are pretty good. Im not a fan of the vinegrette taste but these work for me.

SaraEllen23

As a huge salad dressing fan, I use Bolthouse Farms yogurt based dressings that are lower in calories/fat and don't taste "lite" at all! They're all natural, no preservatives, and only 70 cal/2 tbs. I LOVE the classic ranch! I also do the "shake" method. Everything gets coated evenly.

scraver2003

I like blush wine vinaigrettes - I find a little goes a long way.

Though - my most favorite salad dressing is Blue Cheese... which is THE most fattening dressing out there. And low fat and fat free are horrible to me. I would rather go without. What I DID find - I have had salads with apples in them and like that sort of flavor... so what I do now it, measure out a 1/4 C. of feta or blue cheese crumbles (the FF Feta is actually pretty tasty - just don't try to melt it in any recipes) and dump about 1/2 C of apple sauce on my salad. (no sugar added applesauce, of course!) I figure it probably cuts out about a bazillion calories from my salads.

Sararainmaker

Here is a recipe for one of my favorites!

Persian Salad Dressing
1 Tblsp. Olive Oil
3 Tblsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 clove garlic crushed (pressed)
Whisk these ingredients all together and pour on salad greens or a nice cucumber, tomato and onion salad!

I cut the olive oil down from 1/3 cup to my taste, but I like things pretty tart... you can cut the sugar out as well if you wish, or use a little stevia... just remember, stevia is sweeter than sugar!

Experimenting in the kitchen with olive oil, herbs and different types of vinegar is actually a lot of fun! give it a try!

gianna42

I like extra virgin olive oil with white wine vinegar, salt, freshly ground pepper. A teaspoon of oil for me is enough for about a 2 cup salad, especially if I have other flavors going on (a little feta in the salad, peppers, etc).

Of course, I also love blue cheese dressing, like someone earlier mentioned. But since I try to eat about 1200 cal/day, that is saved for a special treat
1

ahavoc

Ken's low-fat dressings. Also plain balsamic vinegar, or apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar. But you do need fats, so olive oil is ok,

catwrangler

I like Newman's Own Light varieties, especially the Ginger Sesame one. One serving = 2 Tbsps but if my salad is small 1 Tbsp is enough.

me too

I also put it on my salmon and broccoli

BrewerGeorge

I'm living on Newman's Own light Balsamic. 45 Cal for two tablespoons (which is, incidentally, two caps full) and that's more than enough for at least 2 cups of lettuce. You can even get this stuff at McDonald's. It tastes wonderful, too.

Another salad tip I've found (just in case you're wondering) to replace bacon bits of bacos is chopped sun-dried tomatoes. They provide a nice, umami "meatiness" that can be lacking in all-veg salads.

nickscutie

Here is my recipe for my salad dressing:
2T olive oil
4T white wine vinegar
2T lemon juice
1T honey
1T dijon mustard
finely chopped shallot, small

I will use 1-2 tablespoons of this per person depending on the size of the salad.
This will make a good amount of dressing, and it stays in the fridge for 7-10 days and it totally worth the 5 min. it takes to make versus using gross bottled lite dressings.

gianna42

Bump

BrewerGeorge

... gross bottled lite dressings.

One of the things I like about the Newman's Own is that it doesn't have a bunch of that fake-tasting alternative stuff. It just has less oil.

sarahkova

Kraft Fat Free Caesar Italian dressing is really good and not a "creamy" dressing!

I use this with a 1/2 serving of cottage cheese

ilookthetype

I like my salad naked, I'm just that kind of person. I do this by adding home made fruit salad to the dressing, the juice from the fruit will, in my opinion, act as a salad dressing, light and...fruity (obviously) and super delicious!

I posted and saw someone said cottage cheese, I'll use that, or a chicken/tuna salad on top for protein, and again, delicious and not need for dressing.

sunkisses

squeeze a wedge of lime over the salad and I'm good to go

zta1989

be sure to serve it on the side with your salads you will find that you will eat less that way instead of pouring it on your salad

This is an excellent tip and I always do this in restaurants. When I make salads at home, I measure out how much I'm putting on the salad. I love creamy dressings and to increase the amount of dressing without drastically increasing calories, I like to mix lite ranch dressing with salsa. I usually do 2 parts salsa to 1 part dressing. It gives it a little kick without a large amount of calories.

Fredrigo

I like to use Balsamic vinegars it's much more flavorful than cider vinegar so you don't need to use nearly as much also if you add in some garlic it magnifies all the other flavors in the salad already.

I find the secret to great salad is often to enjoy it at the right time you need to let the ingredients including your dressing mingle flavors but don't wait so long that it starts to get soggy.