Making your own salad dressing?

BarbWhite09

I use light salad dressings but I still think they have too much fat, sodium & whatnot...
Do any of you make your own?
What do you use!?
I found a couple of ideas online, but I'd like to hear your ideas too!
[Note I'm a broke college girl! So skip the fancy ingredients, sadly!]

Thank you all!

Laura_beau

Natural yoghurt thinned down with a little water (not much) then mixed with green pesto- its' yummy!!

Natural yoghurt mixed with a little lemon juice, black pepper & mint.

Or good old balsamic vinegar

Or if you are really broke- plain lemon juice & black pepper

asyouseefit

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or mustard), black pepper and salt. A classic that works with all salad!

CharlieBarleyMom

Lately I've just been using Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar. It adds the wetness that a salad demands and a sweetness that is nice without all the calories. And it's not as harsh as plain balsamic vinegar - which of course is a far cry from the harshness of vinegar in general!

snowstorme

Fat Free Greek Yogurt, Dijon Mustard and a little bit of Stevia

eeebee

Sounds long winded but is really quick and easy, takes me about 1 minute to make it:

-1 heaped teaspoon of dijon, wholegrain or english mustard,
-half teaspoon of sugar or honey
-pinch of granulated garlic or crushed fresh garlic (1 small clove)
-pinch black pepper and a pinch of salt
-2 teaspoons cider vinegar (or use balsamic instead of using sugar as an ingredient)
-2 teaspoons water instead of oil

shake it all up in a jar until everything is well mixed and dissolved - that's a really light fat free dressing and great with all leafy salads - a little goes a long way.

SHDenver

I just use red wine vinegar and add some black pepper and garlic powder to the salad before i put it on. It's good, calorie free, and sodium reduced. If you have no issues with sodium you could add salt as well.

BarbWhite09

Thanks guys!

mzkynd

sometimes I just squeeze a bit of lemon over my salad with a dash of S&P, pretty good especially over tuna.
Greek yogurt works wonders for dressings!!!
My favorite, though I know not a lot of people like spicy :
dash of Sirachi sauce
dash of rice wine vinegar
dash of sweet chili sauce

Also works good as a sauce for fresh chicken spring rolls

cherbapp

My favorite sweet dressing for spinach salad (with craisins and almonds) is about 2 oz of cider vinegar, a Tbs of olive oil, a tsp of of Truvia, a little squirt of almond extract and some poppyseeds. This is truly enough for a whole bag of baby spinach...3 big salads.

I have a collection of flavored balsamics and olive oils...a favorite combo is blood orange olive oil with cherry balsamic...it's light and thin and the flavor goes a long way with these.

eeebee

sometimes I just squeeze a bit of lemon over my salad with a dash of S&P, pretty good especially over tuna.
Greek yogurt works wonders for dressings!!!
My favorite, though I know not a lot of people like spicy :
dash of Sirachi sauce
dash of rice wine vinegar
dash of sweet chili sauce

Also works good as a sauce for fresh chicken spring rolls

nice! i want spring rolls now after reading that, is 10am too early for this craving?

mzkynd

sometimes I just squeeze a bit of lemon over my salad with a dash of S&P, pretty good especially over tuna.
Greek yogurt works wonders for dressings!!!
My favorite, though I know not a lot of people like spicy :
dash of Sirachi sauce
dash of rice wine vinegar
dash of sweet chili sauce

Also works good as a sauce for fresh chicken spring rolls

nice! i want spring rolls now after reading that, is 10am too early for this craving?

absolutely not :=)

I keep a package of spring roll wraps in the cupboard, grill up and slice a couple of chicken breast on the weekend, slice up some cukes and carrots matchstick style, then whenever I want a spring roll, I just wrap some up with a leaf of romaine, and drizzle with sauce. easy peasy super yummy AND good for you.

Shannafo

bump

AlsDonkBoxSquat

olive oil, good wine vinegar (there are sooo many nice wine vinegars out there), fresh basil, garlic, salt, pepper, shake!

squishycow7

sometimes all I'll do is some hot pepper relish. it's apprently 0 calories per tsp, on the kind I've used. it's spicy but I do love the flavor... sodium isn't super fantastic though.. along those same lines, I've also been known to simply use salsa as a dressing.

could use a mix of lemon juice, yellow mustard & garlic powder - I know that sounds weird but if you whip it up it's good!


the basic formula for a dressing is acid (vinegar, lemon juice) + a binder (like mayo, mustard, yogurt) + spices. experiment

ymhand

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or mustard), black pepper and salt. A classic that works with all salad!

You cant get better than that. The only other thing would be to have no dressing at all.

BeesKnees181

I always make my own dressing, because it gives me control of ingredients. It is a great way to cut added sugar, fat and calories from your diet. I use Trader Joe's Orange Champagne Vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, red pepper chili flakes, salt, pepper, and onion powder.

giggitygoo

A lot of the time, I just use salsa! It's great. Of course...salsa doesn't taste great with EVERYTHING.....but most things.


Here's a recipe for carrot-ginger dressing. I love that stuff. You just put all the ingredients in a jar and shake. I'm not sure if fresh ginger qualifies as fancy, but it's amazing.

I really like to put dijon mustard, honey, herbs, white vinegar and a bit of olive oil in a jar and shake it up too. It makes a really nice honey mustard style dressing

http://happygoodtime.com/2011/12/08/asian-style-slaw-with-carrot-ginger-dressing/

khotch1

I'm a Balsamic Vinegar girl 99% of the time. I just like my salads with more variety, nuts, fruit added so I cut the cals with the dressing.

_VoV

Napa Valley balsamic Grand Reserve. I buy it directly by the case. It is awesome! Has a lower acidic content and is thick, so it clings to the salad leaves. No sodium, fat and only naturally occurring sugar from the grapes it is made from.

bcattoes

I usually use olive oil, some type of mustard, some type of vinegar (or juice from pickles vegetables or lime/lemon juice), and spices. I mix up the mustards, vinegar and spices to get different flavors. Or just olive oil and basalmic vinegar with nothing else.

That may not be helpful though since it's not low fat, but it is good fat.