Get Dressed!

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I’m sure there are women (and men) currently freaking out over how to cook the perfect meal for their loved one. The meal that will win over hearts, win over points, but mostly- win over kisses! One way to do this? Make a meal completely from scratch, including homemade salad dressing!

Why Have You Done a Good Thing?

1. Homemade salad dressing tastes so much better.
2. Because it is richer, you only need to use a small amount- saving you calories and fat, in the end.
3. Store-bought salad dressing is often loaded with sodium, whereas you can control the salt level in your own dressing. PS- excess salt puts a lot of pressure on your already hard-working heart.
4. Lets Compare Ingredients…

What’s in homemade dressing?

-Olive oil

-Vinegar

-Possibly herbs

-Salt & pepper

What’s in store-bought dressing? (Using WishBone fat-free Italian)

-salt, garlic

-vinegar

-soybean oil

-high fructose corn syrup

-onion, pepper, spices

-Xanthan gum

-sorbic acid

-sodium benzoate

-calcium disodium

-vitamin E

-caramel color

So, which one would you rather eat?

And the kicker…making homemade salad dressing takes almost the same amount of time as going into the fridge and opening a bottle.

The Simple Dress:

Put 1 T vinegar in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk in 2 T of olive oil.

The Accessorized Dress:

Put 1 T balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Add salt and pepper, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp honey. Whisk in 1-2 T olive oil.

Other option:

-Instead of vinegar, try lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider, or even fresh orange juice!

-Add chopped shallots or onions

-Add some more spices; try garlic powder, crushed red pepper, oregano, or fresh herbs

--Samantha Jacobs, RD