Salad Dressing

What do you enjoy? Just find a light version of it.

I started eating more salads when I added light blue cheese dressing. I absolutely love it. I don't add more than a serving size (2tbsp) but it seems to be enough.

I make my own salads for lunch. Depending on what I have available, they'll be some combination of kale, spinach, collard greens or dandelions in place of lettuce. Then a cup or two (each) of snow pea pods, carrots, bell peppers, grapes, tomatoes and other fruits. They seem to be a lot more flavorful than store bought salads.

For salad dressing I usually stick to balsamic vinaigrette which is fairly low in calories.

I would maybe go online and check the nutrition or ask at the deli counter, they should have that information.

I find that the balsamic or Italian ones are usually more of a cream base and are higher calorie then you would think.

You could also buy or make your own dressing for your salads.

Easiest and near healthiest for me is to whiz up white wine/rice vinegar with a couple dates. Sweet and tangy. You can always add spices if you like, but this is tops for me.

Eat whichever dressing you like as long as you measure it out and log the calories,

That being said, I typically go for dressings that will only add 40-80 calories total to my salads. I like to add calories with add-ins like craisins, almonds, and feta cheese rather than dressing.

I've been making my own...(the regular ranch has 14 grams of fat & the fat free is gross) I use plain greek yogurt and ranch powder, dill and chives...

Vinegarettes would be lowest I would think, but please please watch your teeth.

Balsamic or just Olive Oil/Red Vinegar.

Bring your own dressing

Bump

You said tou get the salad from a grocery store, so just go down the dressing aisle, find one you like with low calories and keep it in the fridge at work.

Here are some recipes:

Zesty Avocado Cilantro Buttermilk Dressing
Skinnytaste.com

Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 3 1/2 tbsp • Old Points: 1 pt • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 64.9 • Fat: 4.8 g • Protein: 1.8 g • Carb: 5.1 g • Fiber: 2.2 g • Sugar: 1.9
Sodium: 128.8 mg

Ingredients:

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 small jalapeno, seeds removed, leave them in if you want it spicy
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro
1 medium haas avocado
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp chopped scallion
juice of 1 lime
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. For a thinner dressing add more buttermilk, for a thicker dip use less.

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If you don't make the salad you'll have to re-do the calorie count

Avocado Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1/4th • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 171.3 • Fat: 13.9 g • Protein: 2.8 g • Carb: 13.9 g • Fiber: 6.1 g • Sugar: 2.1 g Sodium: 15.5 mg (without salt)

Citrus Vinaigrette

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon or lime
1/2 navel orange
1 clove garlic, crushed
pinch oregano
kosher salt and fresh pepper

In a small bowl whisk olive oil, juice from lemon or lime, orange, crushed garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.

For the salad:

1 hass avocado, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp red onion, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
4 cups mixed baby greens

Arrange salad greens on a plate, top with cucumber, avocado, red onion, tomato, salt and pepper. Drizzle vinaigrette over the salad and serve right away

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Red Wine Tomato Vinaigrette
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 8 • Size: 2 tbsp • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 1 pts
Calories: 50.8 • Fat: 5.1 • Carbs: 1.3 • Fiber: 0.2 • Sugar: 0.2 • Protein: 0.2

1 medium ripe tomato
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and fresh pepper to taste
1 tbsp minced shallot

Chop tomato in food processor. Add crushed garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, water, dijon mustard, oregano, salt and pepper. Pulse a few times until smooth. Add chopped shallot and mix to blend. Set aside to allow the flavors to blend well.

So yummy!!

I usually eat salad without.

I'm glad you posted this. I've learned to like the taste of veggies. After seeing your post I started wondering why I'm using salad dressing. Today I brought a salad sans dressing. I like it. From now on I'm eating my salads naked.

One trick I love is to dip your fork in the dressing, as opposed to pouring it on the salad. You use SO much less dressing but still get the flavor in every bite. Plus it makes you slow down while eating.

I use Bolthouse, found in the refrigerated section of your store with the bagged salads. So far I have tried the Ranch(45cals) and Mango Chipotle(40cals).

Pretty good stuff.