salad dressing ideas

I use the juice of a fresh lemon (about 2 tbsp) and a tsp or two of the dry ranch mix!!

I use Walden Farms. They have all flavors with zero calories. Some will say they are gross. I like them personally...

I read in another thread that someone leaves the lettuce a little damp and and then tosses in spices they like. The dampness helps the spices stick to the leaves. I am definitely going to try this. I haven't found a low calorie dressing that tastes good to me.

betuel75 wrote: »

I use Walden Farms. They have all flavors with zero calories. Some will say they are gross. I like them personally...

I keep searching for this elusive Walden Farms stuff.....it's difficult to find here in Ontario.

malibu927 wrote: »

Bolthouse Farms makes an excellent ranch dressing for <50 calories a serving. It should be in the produce section.

I'm going to give these a try! They finally carry them at my local grocery store!!!! YAY!

I don't have specific recipes, but always make my own (I get bored with a whooooole bottle of commercial dressing, and don't find most of them very tasty).

If you like ranch, you might like plain yogurt (thinned with milk if necessary) or buttermilk with some herbs from your spice shelf (like basil, oregano, or rosemary - that sort of thing) plus minced garlic, salt & pepper. When using dried herbs, it's good to make it a little ahead so the herb flavors can emerge, or it helps to whirl it in the blender or food processor on a liquefy setting.

Any vinaigrette can be good, and for me mustard vinaigrette is a basic: Olive oil (or other tasty oil), decent vinegar, and some prepared mustard (a brown mustard or some flavored mustards are particularly good), maybe a bit of salt depending on whether the mustard is salty. You can mix almost anything flavorful into the oil/vinegar mixture, but something with a powder texture helps emulsify it so the oil/vinegar don't separate. If you want to minimize oil, but find the higher vinegar percentage too vinegar-y, mix in some water or even a little wine or lemon juice if you like the flavor.

I also like dressings based on tahini (sesame paste, which I have around for other uses) or pureed nuts or seeds (just whirl them in the food processor with vinaigrette-type ingredients or some plain yogurt). This is more caloric, but has some healthy fats & other good nutrients.

Ranch is it for me. What I do it toss the lettuce in the ranch so there's a light coating on it. That way I can get a lot of ranch flavor without having big globs of it or using a large amount.

buying a great aged balsamic vinegar and mixing a bit of oil is perfect, or you can get flavored vinegars and oils at specialty shops. my husband and I love them but they go pretty quickly.
for something homemade and quick try, lemon juice, salt, oil all mixed with a bit of mint...crush the mint and salt with a mortar/pestal thing before mixing the other in. you don't need much and you can keep it for several days in the fridge.

My favorite store bought is TJ light champagne vinaigrette (or the Girards light champagne vin). Second favorite is the wishbone balsamic vinaigrette made with olive oil.

While everyone is commenting, is there a favorite bottled light Caesar dressing?

I take a completely different approach and use salsa. Adds a zip and much lower calories than dressing choices.

I love Tessemae's dressing, usually in the produce section. Really simple ingredients and a little goes a long way.

Try Lighthouse OPA dressing. Its made frim greek yogurt, 60 cals for 2 tbsp. I buy the feta dill one for chicken salad. But I mostly use the blue cheese. I think blue cheese is a good option for salad dressing because the flavor is so strong, it only takes a little bit to flavor the whole salad. There are several other flavors, but I have yet to find them where I live (other than ranch).

I like the idea of making your own with greek yogurt and a ranch packet! Cool!

I like to use salsa as a salad dressing. For me, the spicier the better.