I've been meaning to post this salad dressing recipe for a week now. It's pretty much our families go to every week for sunday dinners since Joe and I don't buy salad dressing. It's just way too easy to make your own and so much better for you. Have you looked at the back of your salad dressing bottle? First check out the insane amount of fat grams, sugar, and sodium. Even if the dressing doesn't have a major sweetness to it, it's likely that a main ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. Eww. Do you know why? Because it is one of the cheapest things for industrialized food corporations to purchase and use in their products as a filler and sweetener. Check out the rest of the ingredients as well. I bet there are tons and tons of others you've never heard of or have trouble pronouncing as well, maybe even a little monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is absolutely found in the American favorite, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (including the ranch packets you can use to make your own dressing or use as a seasoning for some foods).
Anyways, here is a Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe that is sure to please. It's strong and full of flavor.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 Tbs Honey (depending on how strong you like it)
salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients together and allow the olive oil to emulsify with the vinegar using a blender. This will make it so the olive oil doesn't separate from the balsamic after you stir it together.
Olive oil is pure fat, it's true. But it consists of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) that actually have many health benefits to them. Both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats assist in lower risk factors for heart disease. For instance MUFAs actually help to lower cholesterol, particularly your LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and also assists normalizing blood clotting. Obviously though, olive oil is still high in calories, so if your trying to lower your caloric intake, just lessen the amount of olive oil a bit in a salad dressing recipe and add a little more vinegar or even water along with some herbs and seasonings to enhance the flavor.
Olive oil can be used as a vehicle for so many different kinds of dressings. Interested in a little more of a citrus flavor? Then add emulsify the extra virgin olive oil into some lemon juice, lime, or even orange juice. Whatever you desire. We made a lime vinaigrette not too long ago, and it had cumin in it along with the lime juice, olive oil and S&P. and it was excellent!
Don't want to break out the blender? Just put all your ingredients into a mason jar, screw on the lid and give it a good shake then it's already in it's stored container and easy to pour on salad.
Is having some sort of Ranch Dressing a must for your family? Try this recipe instead of using a Hidden Valley Ranch packet or store bought dressing. I would ditch the mayo in it though and sub in plain greek yogurt, not only would it lower the calories and grams of fat, it would add a protein punch! If you do feel the need to use some sort of "Ranch Packet" for a particular recipe, I've noticed that the brand McCormack has a Ranch packet that is just herbs and seasonings, completely lacking the MSG.
Bottom line: Creating your own salad dressing is so simple! Don't waste your time with store bought salad dressing when making your own tastes even better.
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