Anyone have an good recommendations for a good salad dressing that will not completely kill a diet? I love salad. But I also love it with all the not so good for you stuff (cheese, croutons, bacon and, of course, ranch dressing). I can live without the cheese, croutons and bacon but I am having a hard time with giving up ranch. I have tried finding some other dressings that are lower cal but I am having a hard time. I tried Maple Farms (maybe, can't remember). It was a mustard vinegrette. It was ok, but I got sick of it quick.

So, what is your favorite, low cal salad topper?

I love Maple Grove Farms dressings, especially the honey dijon. But since you're already tired of those, I would reccomend Bolthouse Farms yogurt dressings. They are a bit pricey but they're low in calories. I haven't tried the ranch yet but the blue cheese is good.

Have you tried making your own dressings?

Something like this maybe?
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon dijon mustard (whole grain dijon is also great if you have it)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed (or minced if you like a stronger garlic flavor)

Making it yourself will give you loads more control over the calories going into it, if you want it less sweet, don't add as much Honey, or sub the honey for Agave, the possibilities are endless!

My favorite "low cal" not home made dressing is the PC Blue Menu California dressing tho

Love these. They do not have the stiff, gross 'mouth feel' of fat-free creamy things, and they are very low calorie and delicious. The ranch is better than the bleu cheese in my opinion.

Walden Farms makes 0 Calorie/0 Carb etc. dressings. Some of them are decent. Won't ever taste exactly the same as the real thing, but good enough.

I use lemon juice on salad. Little to no calories.

I love the Bolthouse Farms Ranch Yogurt Salad dressing.

I use pico de gallo or taco sauce on my salads. I guess it is really is not salad dressing but it tastes awesome. I also just like salt/pepper on salads though.

A better-for-you version of ranch:

8 oz greek yogurt
3-4T skim milk
1 pkg ranch mix

Put it in a shaker and shake it well, refrigerate for 2 hours and viola! So good you'd swear it was regular ranch =)

I like Ken's Northern Italian Lite. Its 45 calories per 2tsp.