Many of my patients have
been asking about salad dressings lately. I personally make my own with
ingredients found in my pantry or refrigerator. Homemade dressings are good on
leafy green salads, slaws or on grains salads such as barley or bulgur.
Homemade salad dressings are a quick, healthy, and cheap alternative to bottled
dressing. Homemade dressings tend to be lower in sodium, sugar, and
preservatives. Simple dressings take minutes to make and use only a few
ingredients.
Getting Started
Most dressings need a fat, an acid,
and seasoning. Examples of each are found below:
• Fat: Oil,
pasteurized egg, mayonnaise, sour cream, or cheese
• Acid: Lemon,
lime, or orange juice, or any type of vinegar (red wine, balsamic, apple cider,
rice, etc.)
• Seasoning: Garlic
powder; mustard; salt; pepper; oregano, parsley, chives, and other herbs; or
spices like curry powder, paprika, or celery seed
Keep portions of salad dressing to 2
tablespoons per serving to manage calories. You can refrigerate dressing in a
sealed, airtight container (like a jar) for up to 7 days.
How to Make Salad Dressing
Use these easy steps for most salad
dressing recipes:
1. Measure out the ingredients.
2. Whisk all ingredients, except the
fat, in a medium-size bowl. Slowly pour in the fat while whisking the
ingredients together.
3. Unless the recipe states
otherwise, the dressing is ready to use on salad or other dishes. You can also
make salad dressing using a jar with a screw-top lid. Add all of your
ingredients to the jar, including the fat. Tightly screw on the lid. Shake the jar until
all of the ingredients are well combined.
Recipe Ideas
• Lemon Vinaigrette: Squeeze
the juice of 1 lemon into a bowl. Remove any seeds. Add salt and pepper to
taste and whisk well to combine. Slowly whisk in ¼ cup extra
virgin olive oil. Makes 2 servings.
• Balsamic Vinaigrette: Finely
chop 1 clove peeled garlic. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together ¼ cup
balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the
garlic to the bowl and whisk well to combine. Continue to whisk while slowly
adding ½ cup extra virgin olive oil. Makes 6 servings.
• Honey-Mustard Dressing: Add ¼ cup
honey, ¼ cup Dijon mustard, ¼ cup reduced-fat plain Greek yogurt, and ⅛
teaspoon kosher salt to a medium-size bowl. Whisk well to combine. Add pepper
to taste. Makes 6 servings.
Tips
• Add ¼–½ teaspoon Dijon mustard to
salad dressings so the oil and vinegar won’t separate.
• When making creamy dressings, use
low-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt or reduced-fat sour cream instead of
mayonnaise or sour cream. This can help lower the calories.
• Use homemade dressing as a
marinade for chicken or vegetables.
