EAT MORE SALADS

 

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My wife and I are trying to add more vegetables to our diet, but salads can be boring.    Along with creatively varying the vegetables, fruits, cheeses and meats, a variety of salad dressings can keep salads interesting. 

 

However, using commercial salad dressings that are full of salt, preservatives and ingrediency you can’t pronounce defeat the purpose of eating healthy.

After searching salad dressings on YouTube, I have come up with 18 homemade salad dressings I intend to try.  These recipes I have modified to some extent.   My wife and I do not eat salt as we get more than enough in processed and canned foods; so, salt has been omitted.

Tahini can be purchased in health food stores or in most supermarkets.  I suggest you watch a YouTube video on how it is mixed.  We don't use the mason jar method to mix, we nix ours with a whisk, adding water to the desired consistency.

MAPLE TAHINI

TAHINI

LEMON JUICE

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

MAPLE SYRUP

WATER

LEMON HER TAHINI

TAHINI

LEMON JUICE

RED WINE VINEGAR

GARLIC

DRIED HERBS

WATER

TAHINI RANCH

TAHINI

CIDER VINEGAR

LEMON JUICE

PARSLEY – DILL DRIED

CHIVES

GARLIC POWDER

WATER

ORANGE TAHINI

1 ORANGE PEALED

1 TBSP TAHINI

1 TSP VINEGAR

1 TSP SPICY MUSTARD

1 TSP ONION POWDER

¼ CUP DRIED CRANBERRIES

WATER - BLEND

BALSAMIC TAHINI

¼ CUP TAHINI

1 TBSP BALSAMIC VINEGAR

SWEETENER OR HONEY

SPICY MUSTARD

WATER

RANCH HERB

TAHINI

LEMON JUICE

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

CHOPPED GREEN ONIONS

DRIED DILL-PARSLEY- OREGANO

WATER

DILL GARLIC TAHINI

TAHINI

GARLIC

MAPLE SYRUP

FRESH DILL

LEMON JUICE

WATER

TAHINI HERB

1TSP TAHINI

½ CUP LEMON JUICE

¼ CUP OLIVE OIL

GARLIC CLOVE

FRESH BASIL-PARSLEY-DILL-CHIVES

WATER - BLEND

BUTTERMILK DRESSING

¼ C. BUTTERMILK

¼ C. MAYO

¼ C. YOGURT

1 TSP CHOPPED ONION

1 TSP DILL

1 GARLIC CLOVE

1 TSP LEMON JUICE

GREEN GODDESS

¾ C. PARSLEY

1/3 C MAYO

1/3 C SOUR CREAM

1 GREEN ONION

1 TBSP VINEGAR

¼ TSP DRIED BASIL

1/8 TSP DRIED TARRAGON

1/8 TSP GARLIC POWDER

CREAMY ITALIAN

¾ C MAYO

¼ C SOUR CREAM

2 TSP VINEGAR

¼ TSP DRIED MUSTARD

¼ TSP DRIED BASIL

¼ TSP DRIED OREGANO

1/8 TSP GARLIC POWDER

BLUE CHEESE

½ C SOUR CREAM

¼ C MAYO

¼ C COTTAGE CHEESE

1 C CRUMBLED BLUE CHEESE

BLEND

FRENCH

2 TBSP SUGAR OR SWEETENER

3TBSP VINEGAR

¼ TSP SPICY MUSTARD

1/8 TSP GARLIC POWDER

DASH OF RED PEPPER

¾ C OLIVE OIL

LEMON VINAIGRETTE

MINCED GARLIC CLOVE

½ TSP SPICY MUSTARD

THYME

1 TBSP LEMON JUICE

3 TBSP OLIVE OIL

 

 

APPLE CIDER

1 MINCED GARLIC CLOVE

1 TBSP FINE CHOPPED ONION

1 TBSP HONEY

1 TBSP APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

3 TBSP OLIVE OIL

ITALIAN

1 GARLIC CLOVE

SPICY MUSTARD

ITALIAN HERBS

1 TBSP RED WINE VINEGAR

3 TBSP OLIVE OIL

SIMPLE VINAIGRETTE

3 TO 1 OIL TO VINEGAR

SPICY MUSTARD

BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

A GOOD BALSAMIC

1 GARLIC CLOVE

1 TSP HONEY

3 TO 1 OIL TO VINEGAR

 

 

I abbreviate mayonnaise as mayo.  All garlic cloves are minced through a garlic press.  We use only apple cider vinegar, and on the balsamic recipe if you use a good aged balsamic, which is expensive, the honey may not be necessary.

Expensive but fantastic

I have not tried all the recipes yet, but I plan to, and will modify them to taste through trial and error.

I copied the recipes to this post in a Table format, but blogger broke it up as lines.   I was hoping to post it in a way that could be conveniently copied. 

 

the Ol’Buzzard

BLUE CHEESE SALAD DRESSING

Now that we can’t go out to eat, many are preparing  home cooked foods for the first time.     My favorite salad dressing is blue cheese, so I thought I would share this easy recipe.

·       Two parts sour cream

·       One part mayonnaise

·       One part cottage cheese

·       Two parts blue cheese (you can adjust this to your liking.)

Blend until smooth in a blender or food processor.   Will keep in a refrigerator up to five days. 

the Ol’Buzzard

SALAD DRESSINGS - MAYONNAISE AND TOMATOES

I really dislike commercial salad dressings.    To me, they taste artificial.  Their ingredients include chemicals you can’t pronounce, artificial flavors, dies for coloring and preservatives. 

 

The exception is, of course, mayonnaise – I love mayonnaise – just about anything is improved if you slather mayonnaise on it.   Makes any salad taste good.

But I digress:

Here is a list of three easy to make salad dressings that are my standards.

My favorite is Blue Cheese

For years I tried to make a decent Blue Cheese dressing by experimenting, and often using feta cheese … a mistake.  This one works.

½ cup of sour cream

¼ cup of cottage cheese

¼ cup of mayonnaise

¾ cups of crumbled blue cheese

Blend in a food processor until smooth – add some chunks of blue cheese of you like

Creamy Italian

¾ cups of mayonnaise (it is already starting good.)

¼ cup of sour cream

2 tsp of vinegar

¼ tsp each of dry mustard, dried basil and dried oregano

1/8 tsp of garlic powder

1/8 tsp of salt

French Dressing

2 tbsp of sugar

3 tbsp of vinegar (red wine vinegar is great)

¼ tsp of salt

¼ tsp of dried mustard

1/8 tsp of garlic powder

A dash of red pepper flakes

¾ cups of olive oil (a really good brand of extra virgin olive oil makes a difference.)

Vinaigrette are easy

3 parts oil to one-part vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper (experiment with the different vinegar to find what you like.)

You normally think of summer as a time for salads, but salads are great any time as a filler to cut down on the amount of carbohydrates and fats that are consumed in most normal meals.

Tonight, we are having meatloaf, rice, steamed broccoli and a green salad with blue cheese dressing – and of course wine.

I really miss having good tomatoes in my salads.  Those genetically engineered red things that sit on the supermarket shelf are a poor substitute for tomatoes.  We have a short growing season here in western Maine and only get locally grown tomatoes in the summer for a few weeks.  I was raised in the south and remember the big ugly acidic heirloom tomatoes with a taste that was out of this world: tomato sandwiches made with great big slices of acidic tomatoes slathered with mayonnaise.    I feel sorry for the young people today that have been raised on store bought tomatoes.

the Ol’Buzzard