Salad Dressing during Phase 1?

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  • Hi all..

    I am new to this site and about to start the South Beach Diet - Phase 1. My question is about salad dressing.. during phase 1 can you have low fat or "light" salad dressings? For example, I usually eat 2 tablespoons of light ranch dressing so is that acceptable in this phase?

    Thanks for your help in advance!
  • It's the sugar that's the culprit, not necessarily the fat. Read the label and see--it should be less than 3 gms. per serving. (A lot of "lite" dressings replace the fat with sugar or corn syrup for flavor. Bleh!)

    And welcome to 3FC South Beach forums, futureskinnygirl! Please come hang out sometime. I just started 2 1/2 weeks ago. Signing on here daily is part of my new lifestyle change.

    ~~Sally
  • I usually (still) make my own, but for bottled, Geleo's is great.

    Most "low fat" items translate into "more sugar". One reason that Americans have gotten so much bigger since "low fat" items were introduced to the food market. They "low fatted" us fat.
  • My new favorite is Ken's Lite Northern Italian. It has 50 calories for 2 Tbs. It does have trace amts. of HFCS but the overall sugar is only 1 Gm.

    http://www.kensfoods.com/kf/products...ductFlavorId=3
  • Here's some tips...http://www.southbeachdiet.com/sbd/pu..._20080509.aspx

    There is a particular Caesar dressing listed in the Soutbeach book that is actually really good, but I can't remember the name of it right now. Something like Cardini's???
  • I can't have the dairy (EXTREMELY lactose intolerant), but my mom has fallen in love the Marie Calendar's yogurt dressings. They are low in sugar and fat. The perfect combo for us SB girls.

    I like having a good balsamic vinegar with some EVOO. There's also red wine vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, and several others. Try a few, but make sure they aren't the cheapest ones in the store because they will taste nasty especially if you are pouring it on plain.

    There's also recipes out there for the olive oil and vinegar shake-it-up dressings. I really like these, but I suppose it's all preference. (My fiance, for example, doesn't like the vinegar dressings).

    As for the ranch, I use a little of a ranch dip dry mix with ff plain greek yogurt. (I found a kosher, dairy free version in the international Jewish section. I jumped up and down!! haha) This one only has 2 grams of sugar for a tablespoon, but you only need one teaspoon to make a serving for one salad.
  • Murph, watch the HFCS, it's not the sugar that is so scary in it, but the stuff they spray on the corn. The corn is genetically modified to not die when they spray the fields with a "round up" type chemical to kill weeds. So, even if it is trace amounts, it's trace amounts of "round up". Scary to think how much poison our kids consume that are hidden in labels.
  • Also HFCS has a triple effect on your blood sugar or something like that - it is 3x more concentrated so even 1 gram is like 3 grams. Also, I'd watch the sugar in the balsamic vinegar. Cardini's Caesar is great, so is Ken's.
  • Thanks everyone. I am looking forward to the diet and the support I have found here!
  • Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar is delicious too! Throw a lil cumin and black pepper on that and you have a yummy salad!

    Good Luck to you, futureskinnygirl!
  • Quote: Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar is delicious too! Throw a lil cumin and black pepper on that and you have a yummy salad!

    Good Luck to you, futureskinnygirl!
    That was 1 that I was not fond of. It just didn't have nearly enough taste (maybe if I add some pepper it might...I'll try that next time) and I've got a nearly full bottle sitting in my fridge still.
  • I like oil and vinegar, in the winter months when fresh tomatoes suck anyway I like to use canned tomatoes and add dill or other herbs and the tomatoes they provide enough juice that you really don't need dressing!

    Also, lemon juice with some herbs and evoo is good... I would do a search for dressing recipes and see what looks sbd friendly!

    If I am feeling like asian food I will do a few sprays of Braggs and Toasted sesame oil sprinkled with sesame seeds... delish!
  • I forgot about the tomato topping. My favorite is juicy tomatoes or pico de gallo (lots of it) so you don't even need dressing
  • hummus!
    Do you like hummus? I usually don't put any dressing on my salads (yes, I'm weird like that) but I made a big batch of hummus yesterday and was trying to think of ways to eat it. For some reason decided to toss a spoonful into my salad for dinner tonight and it was delish! Added a bunch of flavor, which I loved. So, if you like hummus you might want to give that a try. HTH
  • mmm... hummus is probably like the salad dressing I had been trying to find for ages and finally did. I was looking for a tahini-based dressing (one of the ingredients in hummus) and I found Trader Joe's Goddess dressing - which I think is the same as Annie's Goddess dressing.

    60 cal per tablespoon (I only ever use a tablespoon even on a huge salad) and 0 g sugars. Yum.

    Next I am going to try to make this dressing, or try using hummus.