Making your own salad dressing

This because I'd like to have a better option!

bump - I never know what to put on salads!

Hey there!

Here is the recipe that my family has been using for years. It's the salad from The Pasta House in St. Louis



1 head iceberg lettuce

1/3 head romaine lettuce

1 cup (2 jars) artichoke hearts

1 cup sliced red onions

2/3 cup Parmigiana cheese

1 cup diced pimiento

2/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper


Hope you enjoy!

~Laura

Try this:
No Calorie Dressing

3-4 drops of Green Tabasco Sauce or Sriracha Rooster Sauce or any other hot sauce (or more or less drops according to taste)

¼ tsp. Garlic Puree or minced garlic

2 T Splenda

2 T Rice Vinegar (not sweetened)

3 T Fresh Lime Juice

2 T Fish Sauce (sounds gross but gives the dressing a certain something- start off less than 2T if it frightens you)

Chopped Red Onion -I chop up 2 T and throw it in the dressing but you can place directly in your salad if you like

Chopped Cilantro -I chop up 2 T and throw it in the dressing but you can place directly in your salad if you like


Fresh ground paper to taste

Wisk everything together.

I love love love blue cheese dressing! Skinnytaste has a great creamy blue cheese dressing and very cal/fat friendly too

But my quick go to is normally just some balsamic, evoo, and a little bit of garlic powder.

My standard:

2 tsp EVOO
1 TBS vinegar (sometimes I used red or white wine vinegar, or balsamic vinegar)
pinch of black pepper
1/2 tsp minced garlic

If I'm having seafood in my salad, I like to add 1 tsp dijon mustard.
If I'm doing a greek-style salad, I add 1/2 tsp dried oregano or basil (or 1 tsp minced fresh).

thanks for this

Bump for later

I use this Jamie Oliver recipe as a guide rather than sticking to it 100%. I use mint/basil/cilantro and different kinds of mustard and acids (lime juice/cider vinegar/red wine vinegar) depending on what I'm having it with.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/zingy-fat-free-dressing

Not dressing per se, but I just use salsa when I make salad at home.

I use fruits high in water content as my "dressing." The juicy fruit balances out the dryness of the lettuce or spinach leaves. No dressing really needed. I like navel oranges, ripe black plums and sweet cherry tomatoes the most. Fruit taste awesome with almost any cheese and nuts too!

That or equal parts lemon and honey.

bump

I make salsa vinaigrette. No real measurements. Just mix salsa with vinegar. A little olive oil. It's delicious on salads. Especially with grilled chicken and black beans. My all time favorite.

I have recently got in to growing herbs, and after seeing something similar to this thought I'd experiment.
It has to be easy, or I would never bother!

A spoon of zero fat yogurt
A spoon of white wine vinegar
As much chopped basil as I feel like.
As much chopped mint as I feel like.
A little lemon juice

Stir
Drizzle

Yum.

Told you it was easy!

For years I would read "squeeze a little lemon juice over your salad instead of dressing" and I would think YUK I would never like that. But you know what? I tried it and it's much better than I thought it would be.

Lime is better in some cases. (Love it for thinning out and freshening up bottled salsa.)

But like someone else said already, if you bump up the flavors in the salad (or if it has a little fat or savory element in it like a boiled egg or a little feta), you can often get away with very minimal dressing like fresh lemon or lime.

The other thing I find helpful when I do make homemade dressing is a jar. Like a peanut butter jar...I just dump the vinegar, oil. Garlic, and seasonings in the jar and shake. What's left goes in the fridge in the jar.