Salad Dressing?

Do you have a Trader Joes near you? If so... you should definitely try out their Light Champagne Vinagrette... it is heavenly, and a little bit is all you need.

Let me tell you... I absolutely LOVE honey mustard... the fattenting restaurant style-dressing kind... (The Ken's Steakhouse brand is to die for!!) I love to dip my french fries in it... as well as crusty breads and the sort. However it is full of fat and calories.

Now.. i will make my salads with SANDWICH HONEY MUSTARD. This is MUSTARD with added honey... which keeps the fat at ZERO and the calories very, very low.

I will prepare my vegetables for my salad in my BIG tupperware, leaving room in it... and then squeeze a few tablespoons of the sandwich honey mustard on top.... cap the tupperware tightly (make sure you get the tupperware that clicks shut to ensure that no water leaks out of it) and SHAKE it, SHAKE it, SHAKE it to distribute the mustard evenly. Although the texture of the honey mustard is very, very different... I think it still tastes so good... AND the fact that it is so low in calories (since it technically isn't a dressing) makes it THAT much better Let me know what you think!

PS If you want to try this idea out, you could also squeeze a few tablespoons of the mustard in a dish and add a few drops of water to it and whisk it up to create a thinner "dressing"

I've learned to enjoy salad without dressing. IMO, dressing is sort of like soda. It's empty calories.

If I really feel like dressing, though, I'll try it keep it light with balsamic vinagrite (sp) or some olive oil.

I have used straight rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar or (in a pinch) plain red wine vinegar mixed with salt and pepper and I love it. Understand that I love tart or sour things.

I have also used fresh salsa or pico de gallo as a dressing - basically it is just part of the salad. - again there is that tart flavor.

If I am really wanting a creamy dressing I use a light ceasar dressing but I don't EVER put it on the salad, instead I dip my fork in it and then load the salad bite onto the fork. I get the flavor of the dressing without getting nearly as much dressing per bite.

I just make my own vinagrette. Making dressing is so easy I just don't understand why people buy it.

Pour Olive oil into a bowl. Starting whisking it rapidly. While doing that, pour in about half as much Balsamic or red wine vinegar and stir until it's well mixed. Pour onto salad.

Now, you can add things like garlic, salt and pepper, a little Dijon mustard. Or get more creative and do other things. It's so easy and takes maybe 2 minutes tops. Maybe faster. I like this because my dressing taste better than the store bought stuff. Or, you could make a batch of it, and put it in a bottle and use it when you need it. It's so easy though. No need to buy it from the store.

Anyway, that's my $.02

My mom just used to squeeze a lemon on top of her salad and use that.

If you like Honey Dijon, get honey and dijon and mix them up with some olive oil, and a little vinegar if needed. It's so easy folks.

Bolthouse Caesar Parmigiano or Honey Mustard Yogurt Dressing -- only 45 calories for 2 TBSP, and it's good!

Sorry, I forgot to add this little tid-bit:

While I do appreciate (read LOVE THAT THEY WERE INVENTED) the "Light" and "Fat-Free" versions of our favorite creamy or oil-based salad dressings/dipping sauces, I have to say that they are filled with additives and preservatives. I mean, just read the back of a Kraft-Free bottle of Thousand Island or something. It's crazy! So using just sandwich mustard ensures that there are minimal ingredients. The straight balsamic vinegar is good too... no additives there. In short... the shorter the ingredient list, the better. Obviously you don't want to compromise your healthy salad with a (hidden-not-so) healthy salad dressing... "Light" or not. Some lemon juice does lovely things to a spinach salad, too

Keep it cool and crunchy!

I love white wine vinegar u dont need much of it and it has so much flavour! I also like lemon juice with a bit of olive oil and some balsamic vinegar

I stay away from kraft because of the high frutose corn syrup,, its said it helps promote belly fat ( not sure how true that is) I buy newmans and wishbone light dressings, its not always the calories in the dressing but the amount you use