It's Salad Time!
Salads are so fresh and delicious this time of year. It's like putting spring or summer in your month and savoring all the green flavors of the season. And all those veggies and fresh raw foods are so very good and healthy!
Sadly though, the dressings put onto salads are often not so good and healthy. Store purchased dressings are frequently full of unhealthy oils, unnecessary sugars, and even chemical ingredients like artificial flavors and coloring. Many prepared dressings also use chemical preservatives to cover up the flavor of rancid oils or other inferior ingredients. Then some commercial dressings use chemical ingredients that drive us into wanting to over consume the product. To top it all off, these commercially prepared dressings are exceedingly expensive.
The good news is that you do not have to be bound to the poor quality, unhealthy, and expensive pre-made dressings for your super yummy and healthy salads. Why? Because making your own dressing is sooooo fast, easy, and inexpensive! Plus, you have control over the ingredients, flavor, and portion. That means you can make a dressing that is fresh with healthy ingredients that suit your tastes and amount needed. Win-win! In fact, we make our dressing here at the clinic each week so we can have super tasty and healthy salads for lunch.
Let's get started
Super Easy 3 Ingredient Balsamic Dressing:
1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Cup 5+ year aged Balsamic Vinegar (make sure it is a true vinegar and not a syrup)
2 Tablespoons Prepared Dion Mustard (a little less if you want the dressing thin, a little more for thick)
Now shake or whip until well mixed together. We use a glass bottle, pour all the ingredients into it, put a lid on tight, and shake for 1-2 minutes. Voila delicious and nutritious!
This is a flexible recipe. If you like less vinegar zing, cut down on the vinegar by a 1/4 Cup.
Need to make a bigger batch? The base ratio of EVOlive Oil to vinegar is 1:1. And the mustard is added to desired consistency. Easy peasy.
Want to make an Italian style dressing?
Add to the Super Easy 3 Ingredient Balsamic Dressing:
1-2 cloves fresh pressed garlic
1 teaspoon dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried red peppers (optional if you like a little zing)
Shake or Whisk together until well mixed
Want to make it a little more French Style?
Use the Base Dressing and:
Replace the Balsamic Vinegar with 3/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 teaspoon minced shallots
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 Cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon raw honey
Shake or Whisk together until smooth
We love to mix it up and create different flavors to compliment the veggies and greens in our salads. So here are some other ideas for your homemade dressing:
Add a 1/2 - 1/4 teaspoon dried herb of your choice.
Add a 1 teaspoon fresh minced herb of your choice.
Add 1 - 2 teaspoons of fresh minced leeks
Add an Infused Vinegar instead of a plain Balsamic or Red Wine
Replace the Juice of a Lemon or Lime instead of Vinegar
Add a Flavored EV Olive Oil in place of a plain EV olive oil
Replace the EV Olive Oil with Sesame or Avocado Oil
Add a 1 teaspoon of horseradish for a kick
Mash and mix an avocado in to make the dressing creamy and rich
Add Crushed 1/4 C blueberry (or raspberries, or strawberries) and add to the base.
Healthy does not have to take much time, be difficult to do, or be boring. Start with the basic 3 ingredient recipe and see where it takes you. Enjoy!
Kathi does many things at Park County Chiropractic including make most lunches during the week. She loves to cook and make super delicious meals that keep her and Steve (aka Dr Dobelbower) healthy and capable of keeping up with their busy feet.
Dr Dobelbower also helps people be more capable and vibrant with nutritional and herbal therapies. Learning how to eat for a healthy lifestyle is important to living a healthy lifestyle!
