Healthy salad dressings

mhernan8585
mhernan8585 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 23 in Food and Nutrition
Share your recipes! :)

Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Low cal or healthy?

    Basic salad -- balsamic and olive oil. You don't need as much oil as in a traditional vinaigrette, experiment to see what works. I tend to use a tsp of olive oil and twice that of balsamic. Use good quality of both.

    Low cal -- mustard (whatever you like, I like spicy) plus red wine vinegar, maybe add some garlic or pepper. Taste before you use and adjust as you think works with the salad.

    Spicy -- this is mine for cucumber/tomato salads or anything Asian influenced -- sriracha, fish sauce, and soy, plus lime juice (fresh is best). Add cilantro, basil, or mint to the salad.
  • mhernan8585
    mhernan8585 Posts: 7 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Low cal or healthy?

    Basic salad -- balsamic and olive oil. You don't need as much oil as in a traditional vinaigrette, experiment to see what works. I tend to use a tsp of olive oil and twice that of balsamic. Use good quality of both.

    Low cal -- mustard (whatever you like, I like spicy) plus red wine vinegar, maybe add some garlic or pepper. Taste before you use and adjust as you think works with the salad.

    Spicy -- this is mine for cucumber/tomato salads or anything Asian influenced -- sriracha, fish sauce, and soy, plus lime juice (fresh is best). Add cilantro, basil, or mint to the salad.

    They all sound good thank you... all I have at home is the reg. Ranch... time to get creative. :)
  • cupcakesplz
    cupcakesplz Posts: 237 Member
    I like fresh lemon juice or lime maybe some chilli too
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
    I mostly olive oil (lemon infused is my fave) and balsamic. And some herbs if I'm getting fancy.

    Olive oil, honey and red wine vinegar with some cumin is fantastic with roast vegie salads.
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
    edited September 2015
    mhernan8585 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Low cal or healthy?

    Basic salad -- balsamic and olive oil. You don't need as much oil as in a traditional vinaigrette, experiment to see what works. I tend to use a tsp of olive oil and twice that of balsamic. Use good quality of both.

    Low cal -- mustard (whatever you like, I like spicy) plus red wine vinegar, maybe add some garlic or pepper. Taste before you use and adjust as you think works with the salad.

    Spicy -- this is mine for cucumber/tomato salads or anything Asian influenced -- sriracha, fish sauce, and soy, plus lime juice (fresh is best). Add cilantro, basil, or mint to the salad.

    They all sound good thank you... all I have at home is the reg. Ranch... time to get creative. :)

    Pro Tip: stay away from ranch or other creamy dressings and you save a lot of calories, because it takes much less olive oil to properly dress a salad than a creamy dressing. Even for oil based dressings, you can avoid a lot of sugar and salt by making your own. Read the ingredient label on a lot of packaged dressings and you'll see they are pretty much savory pancake syrup. (Note -I'm not demonizing sugar and salt, but IMHO they don't belong in a green salad).
  • krepanie
    krepanie Posts: 41 Member
    I make this Greek yogurt ranch dressing: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/ranch-dressing-recipe.html. I really like it. I do add dill to the seasonings, and sub regular milk with lemon juice for the buttermilk. It tastes best if it has had time to sit and let the flavors blend before using. When I plugged in the ingredients on MFP it showed 24 calories per tablespoon (it made 16 tablespoons total). Hope that helps!
  • br3adman
    br3adman Posts: 284 Member
    Greek yogurt,paprika, splenda, teaspoon of mayo,salt pepper. Really good low calorie dressing. Also yogurt ceaser is good like 45 calories per 2 tablespoons
  • Greenmountainsgoddess
    Greenmountainsgoddess Posts: 1 Member
    I use Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg is best or Trader Joe's) with EVO and Oregano (dried or fresh). It really must be RAW and UNFILTERED. You can pre mix this and place in a bottle or use in a spray bottle. Apple cider vinegar is really good for you too!!!
  • elarian
    elarian Posts: 18 Member
    I tend to just use a little lemon and salt. I focus on getting the salad to taste good in the first place (lots of peppers, cucumber, tomato, mint, cilantro, parsley etc). sometimes I'll crumble over an ounce of feta or blue cheese or some seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp hearts). Calories add up there if you aren't careful to weight, though.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I use the Joy of Cooking's Ranch Dressing or Tzatziki sauce (yogurt/cucumber/herbs) recipes for a low fat and hence low cal salad dressing.
  • crystalewhite
    crystalewhite Posts: 422 Member
    Not a big dressing person, I actually like dry salad. But if I am going to have dressing, this is the one I make:

    8.00 Tbsp Olive Oil
    3.00 tsp (5 g), Dijon Originale - Traditional Dijon Mustard
    4.00 tbsp (15 g), Red Wine Vinegar
    2.00 tsp, Garlic - Raw
    1.00 tbsp chopped, Shallots - Raw
    Fresh ground black pepper

    This makes about 7 two-tablespoon servings at 144 calories each.
  • DerekVTX
    DerekVTX Posts: 287 Member
    I just squeeze lemon juice on mine....leaves way more calories for the good stuff like steak or chicken :)
  • tjphelps73
    tjphelps73 Posts: 171 Member
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