I miss TASTY salads!!

Try making your own dressings. It just takes a couple of minutes. Mustard, vinegar and olive oil are a great starting point. Add herbs, seasonings and/or a little parmesan cheese for flavor. Try different mustard and vinegar combinations, or add hot sauce for variety.

See my diary for today, without the ranch dressing.
I was going to add chicken also but I didn't feel like making it.
You can also replace the iceberg with spinach, swiss chard, and romaine but I didn't have any on hand.
Oh and I forgot to add carrots!

Sweet Balsamic Dressing

1/8 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic
1 TBLS Splenda
1/4 tsp salt & pepper...

Pasofan thanks for posting that recipe! I always thought I only liked creamy salad dressings (I think cause of never liking bottled "italian" types). I just made some of this recipe that you posted and used in on my salad and am blown away! I added some crushed garlic and a little mustard. Wow I'm in love! New favorite for sure. Was practically licking the bowl :laugh:

here's a vegan caesar salad recipe for you!

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for the caesar dressing:
1/3 c slivered or sliced blanched almonds
3 - 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3/4 pound silken tofu (the fresher the better)
1/4 olive oil
3 tblsp fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tblsp capers
4 tsp caper brine
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp mustard powder
salt to taste

for the salad:
1 large head romaince lettuce
freshly cracked black pepper
handful or two of spinach and arugula, torn into bite-size pieces
croutons

method:
prepare the dressing - first pulse the almonds in a food processor or blender until crumbly. empty the ground almonds into an airtight container that you'll be using the store the finished dressing. blend the garlic, tofy, and oil in the food processor until creamy. add the lemon juice, capers, caper brine, sugar, and mustard powder, and pulse until blended. adjust the lemon juice and salt to taste. pour into the container with the ground almonds and whisk to combine. cover and allow the dressing to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum 30 mins, optimally 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

to assemble the salad, place in a large bowl 2 or 3 cups of lettuce/greens per individual serving. ladle on 1/3 c of dressing (or more or less to taste) and use kitchen tongs to toss the creens and coat them with dressing. add the croutons, toss again, and transfer to a serving dish. sprinkle with a little freshly cracked pepper. enjoy!

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on a side note here, i usually add a LOT less oil... like 1 tblsp at the most. next time i make it, i will try foregoing the oil completely and see if it's still yummers

if you want more recipes, send me a message and i will see what i can dig up

Salsa is a fantastic low-cal salad dressing. I an craving taco salad now! A serving of taco meat (beef or chicken/turkey), some avocado, tomatoes, lettuce of course and even sour cream, and a couple crumbled tortilla chips. Mmm.

I love putting feta cheese on my salads (need to start doing that again). Balsamic vinegar is fantastic too!

bump

Olive oil + balsamic vinegar all the way!!!
It has some calories but worth it if you fit it in your calories.

walden farms makes zero calorie dressing. they make about 10 kinds some of them are not very good but if you like balsamic its actually really good. spring mix slice green apple goat cheese grilled chicken and balsamic dressing for around 250cal filling and tasty

some of it is so bad i dont think its possible thats there is anything in it but the balsamic is good

tonight my dinner was a salad. i did red leaf lettuce, shredded carrot, thinly shaved cucumber, chickpeas, radish, bacon, cherry tomatoes, 2 slices of deli meat, a hard boiled egg and light ranch dressing.. 363 calories. sodium was a little high because of the lunch meat/dressing/canned chickpeas, 1151 but it was great and filled me up

Try adding roasted veggies, I add pumpkin with cracked black pepper and feta. Roasted tomatoes and capsicum/ peppers are also much more flavoursome than raw.

Another addition is beetroot or apple.

I dress with lemon juice, balsamic or honey mustard (1 tsp wholegrain mustard, 1 tsp honey, squeeze of lemon and enough olive oil to get consistency right.)

I have used salsa which is yummy, or an organic balsamic vinaigrette.
I would also suggest mixing up the flavors of the chicken you put on it. While the lemon garlic one sounds delicious, if you have that all the time it will get boring. Try different seasonings, etc, or even different meat!
The best salad I've ever made was spinach, cajun grilled shrimp, feta crumbles, tomatoes, strawberry slices, and just a little organic balsamic. SO good!