Home made salad dressing ideas?
 

So, usually I just throw some salt/pepper and olive oil on spinach/lettuce, but lately I need some more flavor. I have tried using vinegar as a base and adding seasonings, but it's definitely not my specialty. Anyone have easy salad dressing suggestions that don't taste too intense?! I am not a fan of the walden farms products.

Thanks!

add lemon zest and some lemon juice too
and a dash of red pepper flakes!!!

ps...love your photo!!! so pretty!!!

Most vinegars are way too harsh (in my opinion) to use in a low-oil dressing, but rice vinegar (also called rice wine vinegar) is the acception (champagne vinegar is sometimes mild enough also).

I've never found a bottled light or fat-free dressing that I can stomach, but if you can find an asian market that sells thai "green dressing" (that's what the label calls it and there's usually a picture of a salad on the jar, and usually the jar is about the size of a small, narrow jelly jar).

It's really yummy and very low-calorie. I believe there's also a "red dressing," but I've never bought it (if I remember correctly, I avoided it because it was higher in calories and sugar than the "green dressing").

I know with IP, everything's supposed to be 0/0/0, and this is not, but it is pretty close. It's been a while since I bought it, but I think the brand I've bought has something like 20 calories for 1/4 cup. I remember it being super low.

I posted this on a similar thread a couple of days ago, but I love this salad dressing so I feel it's worth repeating. I make up a batch and use it throughout the week:

1 cup grapeseed oil
.25 cup white wine vinegar
.5 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp basil
3 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp splenda or stevia
1.5 tsp ground black pepper

I've been taking oil, vinegar and some melted walden farms dressing. I mix it all together then I add 2 minced garlic cloves to it. Delish. I had found a version of this recipe online, (can't thank who's blog is was since I lost everything on my computer).. I just kind of put half oil, half vinegar, and around half a jar (or a bit less) of the walden farms. My serving size is 2T.

Dijon Mustard and Garlic Powder are musts! Then you can experiment wish dashes of powdered ginger, oregano, basil, chili vinegar; all depends on the veggies. Also a great way to mellow out the harshness of white vinegar is a splash of soy sauce, sounds weird but is just the perfect addition.

I do a warm olive oil/lemon dressing over spinach, which I have adapted from 'The New Best Recipe Cookbook' <--The America's Test Kitchen people

In a pan heat the olive oil with garlic/shallots (if you're interested)
Turn off the heat and add a the juice of 1/4 lemon, a little stevia/sugar to cut the bitterness, salt and pepper
Let cool a bit and while still warm pour dressing over spinach and mix together
The spinach will be firm but slightly wilted

1 part cider vinegar
3 parts olive oil
freshly grated garlic (or jarred garlic in olive oil)

I grate a small clove, add small amounts of olive oil and vinegar, stir it up with the little brush and use the brush to pour it off the plate onto two dinner side salads or one large salad.

If I used as much garlic as below, I'd better be making at least a cup of dressing (1/4 cup vinegar, 3/4 cup oil). If I am making that much, I whisk it together in a small bowl. With extra virgin olive oil it turns a lovely greenish yellow.

I have a small grater that looks like this:
http://www.problemsolvers.com/psolve...log/66337x.jpg

1 part evoo
2 parts lemon juice
Dill to taste
Some people add sweetener but I don't