Stop Buying Salad Dressing

I do pretty much what you do for vinaigrette but usually add garlic powder (also too lazy to chop). I also use a mason jar or dressing bottle. My husband prefers honey mustard which I make with mayo, dijon & yellow mustard, rice wine vinegar and honey. Also make a celery & pear salad with dressing of honey & vinegar. Sounds a little strange but very good.

S D

HaHa regarding too lazy to chop garlic--I can relate! If you don't buy it chopped then one trick I was shown way back in the 1990 (I have been making this dressing recipe it seems forever) is to take a clove and smash it sort of flat, which releases the aroma and oils and then simply rub the inside of the salad bowl with the smashed clove. Takes zero effort and really brightens this recipe...YUM and healthy!

j

I would really like a salad dressing recipe with no oil of any kind. Just something tasty and stores well. I also need a coleslaw dressing recipe with no oil or mayonnaise. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Darlene Bloom

My whole childhood, my dad made a salad every single night to go with supper. He would just pour the oil and vinegar straight out of the bottles onto the greens. I sure don't think any of us ever thought of it as a "recipe" so it always makes me laugh when I see vinaigrette described that way. Now I do make it up ahead of time like you do, and also in a mason jar. But I keep mine in the pantry, because my olive oil solidifies in the fridge. I can't imagine that it needs to be refrigerated, because oil and vinegar can be stored separately at room temp; why not when mixed?

Lois

Darlene Bloom- here is one-
VINAIGRETTE DRESSING
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grated onion
2 teaspoons chopped parsely
2 teaspoons chopped pimento
1 tablespoon chopped pickle or capers
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt and paprika to taste
1/2 clove crushed garlic (optional)

Shake all ingredients together in a jar or bottle with a tight top.

This dressing may be used on any mixed green salad, on artichokes, etc. Keep chilled.

You can also substitute stock or broth for oil in many recipes.

Jill

I gave up dressing a long time ago. Instead, I started going to the local oil store and buying the 18 year old traditional balsamic and I have a small bottle of it that I keep in my purse. When I am home, I might drizzle a little olive oil with it. The balsamic is delicious all by itself!!

Rhonda Giroux

Love the lemon-mustard-honey vinaigrette too, esp on a spinach salad. This tahini dressing is my favorite and it can be eyeballed for measurements. Its a good dipping sauce for veg snacks too. I usually double it, store in mason jar, and it has stayed fine for a month.

http://foodbabe.com/2011/11/17/tahini-dressing-salad-perfec…

Barb L

I have an almost crippling addiction to Ken's Italian salad dressing, and I just had a conversation with a friend about how it is basically the only food I keep in my house where the ingredients label and I just agree to stay in our separate corners and pretend not to be aware of each other. I know there is laundry list of stuff I usually avoid in there...and I simply cannot stay away. I limit myself to about half a tablespoon (which is 1/4 of a serving! do people really put two tablespoons of dressing on a salad???) But I also make a Dijon vinaigrette frequently; one trick my dad taught me is that whenever you have a mustard jar about empty, that is the perfect time to add vinegar and oil, shake it up and voila, instant dressing. You can keep topping it up for ages, too. I like the squeezy or the glass Grey Poupon jars for this.

Christine

Recently read an article about many olive oils being fake, and another bonus with California Ranch is that they were one of the only ones that was found to actually be real extra virgin olive oil!

Stacie

My husband and I make our approximation of the "Garlic Expressions" dressing we found in our grocery store. We use apple cider vinegar and tarragon vinegar with our olive oil to give it some extra zing.

Deni

I just mix one part lemon juice to one part white vinegar in a bottle and shake. Done.

Erika

Bolthouse dressing is one of the few brands that I buy - it's yogurt based and all natural. The caesar tastes like a restaurant quality caesar dressing, but it's only 1pt+ for 2 tbsp.

Allie

I've been making my own for years which is very similar to yours however, I am curious....when you say Dijon..do you mean the prepared mustard or the mustard powder? I use the powder..

Terri

I make basically the same dressing as your recipe, but I add fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice to brighten it up a tad. Especially great if you have avocado in your salad!

Lisa

I have a challenge in that a family member can't have any vinegar (very low acid diet) or citrus, etc. Can have a little mustard. I've been roasting and pureeing red pepper for a little 'tang' but would welcome your ideas!

Patricia

My Mom brought us up on Good Seasons Italian.She used good quality vinegar and oil.We were hooked and never used anything bottled because it tasted gross!

Renee

My favorite dressing is one my grandmother used to make at home. It took me years to get it perfected even though it was so simple.

I almost always make my dressing at home. I make blue cheese, Roquefort, Italian, and Thousand Island. I also make my own tartar sauce. We eat fish often and take chlorella to remove heavy metals. Even Mercury can be removed from the body through the binding action of seaweed and chlorella so ask your doctor how much should be ingested. Don't try to do this by yourself as you may have serious gastric or digestive issues as a result. One of the best ways, in my opinion, to detoxify, is eating fermented veggies to allow good bacteria to proliferate in the digestive system thus removing toxins.

I_Fortuna

I never knew you could use broth or stock in place of oil. I will try that. Now on to the subject of fake olive oil.. How do you know what is fake or not? What is the bestreal brand of olive oil I can buy???

annie

for those of you who do not wish to use any oil I have found that seasoned rice vinegar is a great salad dressing with plenty of flavor.

betty

I mix it as needed - for one large salad for one person:

1 teaspoon each olive oil, vinegar (whatever flavor you prefer) and mustard (again, whatever style you prefer). Stir it up till blended - add to salad greens, toss, then add the other salad ingredients.

Robin

I started to use salsa as my salad dressing. It has far fewer calories than dressings, has mostly/all natural ingredients, has lots of varieties to choose from, and is readily available with lots of fruits and veggies already in it to toss a quick salad. If I'm craving a creamier taste, I sprinkle a little feta cheese in with the salsa.

Aaron

Do you think avocado oil would work in place of the olive oil?

Tammy McCormick

sounds tasty but I do mine even easier. I just put a tablespoon of olive oil and lemon juice....that's it. I don't even mix it. Sometimes I will add an herb seasoning. On the above recipe if it were me I would leave out the salt, mustard has enough salt in it to begin with without adding more. I would rather add more pepper.

Caren Gittleman

Lisa: About a month ago I bookmarked this Bloody Mary Salad dressing [for a jar salad] that sounds so delicious for summer! Doesn't this look unbelievable? I wish I thought of it and I want it now! :)

http://www.blendtec.com/recipes/bloody-mary-dressing

http://www.blendtec.com/blog/salad-in-a-jar-bloody-mary-dre…

Barb L

My Daddy used to pour equal parts oil and vinegar into a large dinner spoon, shake a little salt and pepper into it then stir with a fork as it mixed together and drizzled over the salad all at the same time. That is what I grew up with as "French dressing."

jp

Has anyone tried fermented dressings? They sound intriguing and very healthy. I will be experimenting with these suggestions soon.

http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/how-to-make-fermented-sala…

Barb L

Pampered Chef makes a wonderful garlic press I love mine! You put the garlic clove (skin on) in the press and squeeze the press. Wala, your garlic is pressed and the skin removed! Easy clean up too!

Sue

I so enjoy making my own salad dressing! It is so easy and delicious!

Tanya

I actually 'taught' my dad (who was a self-proclaimed non-cook although he somehow made perfect hard boiled eggs 100% of the time! something which I cannot seem to ever do) how to make this dressing for a plain old mixed green salad to become delicious, and he made it for himself every day, and kept telling me how much he loved it, even though I hardly invented it---nice guy! I wanted to add that BLT salads are great, thanks Snack Girl :) but for the aforementioned plain old green salad, adding fresh chopped herbs- our favorite for this are parsley & chives but experimenting with dill or other green herbs is fun- to the greens right before putting on dressing & serving somehow takes the salad to a new level, always good if (for some reason) I might just want to eat the slice of bacon by itself all at once, lol....

Naomi

Thanks to Jill for the oil free vinaigrette recipe and to Darlene for asking the question. I also appreciate the link to the info about fermented vegetables from Barb. I too, am trying to include more fermented foods in my diet. And to our host,the snack girl, for generating such a great discussion.

Debra

I use 1/3 EVOO, 2/3 rice vinegar, 1 tsp mustard, 1 tbsp mayo, a smashed garlic clove. A sprig of fresh tarragon or rosemary if I have it. Instead of a jar I use a bottle that used to contain Regina wine vinegar--it has a sprinkle top.

The mayo is just to help it stay mixed a bit longer after I shake it up.

Margaret ★★★★