Once we started paying even more attention to food labels and added sugar, we noticed that salad dressings almost all have sugar. So we started making our own at home. They are easy, tasty, and much more wholesome than anything on the grocery store shelves.
The basic idea for a vinaigrette is a combination of oil, vinegar, and spices. The trick is finding the ratio of oil to vinegar that you prefer. I usually aim for two parts oil to one part vinegar. I also find that the dressing is easiest to mix if made and stored in a small glass jar. Shaking the jar emulsifies the dressing better than whisking. Here are some of our favorite combinations, but this is another area where it's easy to play around with different flavors. A helpful tip: to taste the dressing, dip a lettuce leaf in. This gives a better idea of how it will taste on a salad, while tasting it on a spoon (or a finger), is misleading.
Italian--olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper (optional)
Balsamic Vinaigrette--olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper
For a light, fruity option, use a fruited vinegar (like raspberry or pear) with a neutral oil like canola or sunflower (plus salt, pepper, and maybe some herbs).
Another really great dressing/dipping sauce is honey mustard. If I'd known how easy this is to make, I would have started doing it years ago!
Honey Mustard (from the Help Your Diabetes program)
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons mustard (we prefer plain yellow, but any type can be used)
Whisk together to combine.
The one dressing we haven't successfully made at home is ranch, but at the moment, we've got a bottle of Dion's ranch in the fridge, so I'll wait a while before experimenting with ranch again. :-)
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