Salads are supposed to be healthy for you, aren’t they?  With summer fast approaching, many of us are heading to the produce section to get most of our meals.  Filled with vitamins, minerals and hardly ANY calories, salads are a great way to eat healthy.  However, lettuce and veggies can be boring by themselves, so we run over to the salad dressing aisle to find something yummy.

When I first went on this dietary regimen, I thought salads were about all I COULD eat.  My problem came when I started reading those pesky dressing labels.  Some salad dressings are downright BAD for you!  The Huffington Post came up with a list of the most unhealthy dressings, and it might shock you!  Did you know that when you read the nutritional info on the label that it only pertains to the serving size?  Most dressings have a 2 TBSP serving size, and with some of them (I’ll use Ken’s Steakhouse Ranch for example), you’ll get 180 calories, 20g of fat, and 280mg of sodium in EACH serving.  I’m not sure about you, but 2 TBSP of ranch dressing isn’t a whole lot for me, especially since I eat big salads.  So the salad might be good for you, but the dressing may NOT be.  Here’s the link for the list of the most Unhealthy Salad Dressings. – http://www.thedailymeal.com/unhealthiest-store-bought-salad-dressings-slideshow#5

Why didn’t I include the link for the healthiest?  Well, it’s also there, but there’s SO much they put into “healthy dressings” that isn’t all that good for us, me in particular.   We have a bunch of salad dressings in our refrigerator, so I took some pictures for us.  Let me show you the generic Thousand Island dressing:

Check it out:  First ingredient is Soybean Oil, so that rules me out.  Look further and you’ll see “High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup AND sugar, just in the first 5 lines.  Ugh!  So, we “all know” that Thousand Island is one of the worst, so let’s check out a “healthy” French dressing:

As you can see, it has “No Artificial Anything Added”, “No MSG”, and “All Natural Ingredients”.  Yet, the THIRD ingredient is SUGAR!!!  As I stated in an earlier blog, SUGAR HIDES EVERYWHERE, and manufacturers consider sugar to be “natural”.   Alright.  What about those “Low-FAT”, Gluten-free dressings that you see everywhere?

The Second (!!)  ingredient is sugar!  It’s got all sorts of “gums” in it as well.  *shakes my head*  Sure, there’s no gluten, but there’s all SORTS of unpronounceable ingredients.  In my book, that won’t fly.

Making your own salad dressing

Seriously, salad dressing is majorly simple.  For a basic vinaigrette, it’s 1 part vinegar/acid to 3 parts oil.  Add whatever spices you like, and shake it up.  Old mason jars are perfect for this!   In fact, there is a SUPER video by Jamie Oliver about making homemade dressings.  He has some great ideas for salad and dressings in here, and shows you just how easy it is to make simple dressings that taste fabulous!

For those of you who are interested in a dressing I make all the time, here’s the recipe:

Italian Salad Dressing

3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup safflower oil
1 TBS. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (juice of one lemon)
freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp oregano

Instructions:  Press garlic into mason jar and with the back of a spoon, mash the salt into the garlic for a couple of minutes, until mixture turns into a creamy paste.  Add the other ingredients and shake vigorously.  You can always use a blender for this as well.  Refrigerate what you don’t use.

Go get your salad on!!  Make it at home, and make it pure!