Healthy Salad Dressings

Are you looking for a healthier way to top your salads or add flavors to your favorite meals? Here are a few of my healthy salad dressing recipes.

When choosing to eat healthier, we tend to opt for salads. While quick and convenient, these fresh meals are usually packed with good proteins and tons of colorful veggies. This is definitely a great way to add more veggies to your diet, BUT topping it with commercial salad dressings is not the healthiest choice.

Most store-bough salad dressings are full of crap ingredients, inflammatory oils, and preservatives... just to name a few. Here are a few options to add healthy, robust flavor to your salad without skimping on taste!

1. OIL & VINEGAR SALAD DRESSING

RECIPE:

• High Quality Olive Oil

• Vinegar of Choice (red wine and balsamic are great options for this)

• Himalayan Sea Salt

• Dried Italian Seasoning (basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano)

• Cracked Pepper

• Garlic Powder

DIRECTIONS:

Use a carafe and fill half way with vinegar of choice, and fill the remaining half with olive oil. If you want your dressing to be a little less tangy, start by filling the carafe with only 1/3 vinegar instead. Add salt, cracked pepper, and dried seasonings. Mix vigorously, do a finger taste test, and add more seasoning, if needed.

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS RECIPE:

1. After switching from store bought dressing to this, going back to the store bought dressing is overwhelming to the taste buds and not in a good way. If you aren't mind blown by your first bite with this olive oil/vinegar dressing, add a little more Himalayan Sea Salt and/or vinegar.

2. This is best made in a dressing carafe, which you can find at Target, Amazon, and several other stores and online shops. Glass is always the best option! You can also leave the carafe on the counter at room temperature.

3. I switch between using the red wine vinegar and the balsamic, or sometimes I make both.

2. GREEK DRESSING

RECIPE:

• Olive Oil

• Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed)

• Fresh Garlic

• Dried or Fresh Mint

• Dried or Fresh Italian Seasoning (basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano)

• Himalayan Sea Salt

• Cracked Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Pour olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice into carafe - lemon juice should be 1/3 or less of the carafe. Mix in the salt, crack the pepper, and add the herbs and garlic. If using fresh herbs, be sure to muddle or break up into tiny pieces before adding them to the dressing.

As with the Oil & Vinegar recipe, I personally do not measure any of the ingredients. Taste is personal, so play around with adding these ingredients until they are right for you. I like mine tangy and robust, so for me I go heavy on the sea salt and herbs. A little garlic goes a long way!

Shake vigorously, do a finger taste test, and add more seasoning, if needed.

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS RECIPE:

1. You can add a little juice from jarred pepperoncini peppers to add an extra zing to this dressing.

2. This dressing tastes amazinggggg on a mix of fresh veggies, feta cheese, and rotisserie chicken. If you're feeling a little carby - you can add this mix over a high quality pasta (I love gluten free fusilli) that fits your bio-individual dietary needs.

3. Because of the fresh ingredients, lemon juice, fresh herbs, and garlic, this dressing will need to be refrigerated and used within five days. Put it out at room temperature for a little while before serving, so that the oil can liquify again.

3. ASIAN SALAD DRESSING

RECIPE:

• Coconut aminos

• Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Dressing

• Primal Kitchen Sesame Ginger Dressing

• Fresh Lime Juice

• Honey

• Himalayan Sea Salt

• All Natural Almond butter - unsweetened

DIRECTIONS:

Add three tablespoons of coconut aminos to a mixture of 1/3 Primal Kitchen honey mustard to 2/3 Primal Kitchen sesame ginger dressings. Squeeze one half of a lime into mixture, a little honey and salt (both to taste).

If you're feeling extra indulgent, add a small amount of almond butter to the mixture and whisk until smooth. A little almond butter goes a long way, and too much make the whole thing taste solely like the almond butter, so be sure to go easy on it and add more as needed.

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS RECIPE:

1. I loveeee asian food, so when I cut out peanuts in 2012, there were A LOT of foods I chose not to eat. When I created this dressing, it blew me away. This is full of incredible taste, and it feels incredibly indulgent.

2. Coconut aminos are a fantastic replacement for soy sauce. It doesn't contain any wheat or gluten, and it is made from natural ingredients, not processed or full of preservatives like soy sauce. I HIGHLY suggest keeping a bottle on hand and using it as a soy sauce substitute across the board. Also, coconut aminos are a fermented food, so not only does it cut out the gluten and other bad ingredients, it helps with your gut microbiome! HUGE GUT HEALTH WIN!

3. I use this dressing to marinate chicken or shrimp, and I use this when making veggie pad thai, but my favorite way to eat this fantastically healthy dressing is to add it over my Asian salad recipe (spring mix, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, red peppers, broccoli slaw, green onions, sesame seeds, red cabbage) and top it with a protein of choice. If I am craving more substance, I add fresh mozzarella pearls to this salad, and it keeps me full and satisfied for hours. After eating this, I feel as if I've indulged in a cheat meal because it is PACKED with so many different textures and flavors.

*BONUS* HEALTH BENEFITS OF OLIVE OIL

Olive oil has long been considered sacred and has also been used to symbolize wisdom, fertility, power, and purity. In terms of health benefits, extra virgin olive oil is full of anti-oxidants and also helps to reduce inflammation.

Studies show that eating more than 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by 15% and the risk of coronary heart disease by 21%.

Some additional health benefits of olive oil:

• Strengthens immune system

• Prevents atherosclerosis, keeping the heart young

• Reduces the risk of Type II Diabetes

• Controls blood sugar levels

• Contributes to the health of the colon and intestinal microbes

• Promotes bone health and fights osteoporosis

• Slows the progression of osteoarthritis

• Helps prevent many types of cancer

• Reduces inflammation

• Alleviates constipation

• Alleviates the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease

• Combats premature aging of the skin and internal organs

• Prevents cell damage caused by free radicals (oxidative stress)

• Promotes brain health and improves memory

• Helps prevent strokes

• Increases the processing time of the brain

• Protects the nervous system

• Can help treat anxiety and dementia

• Protects the brain from degenerative diseases

• Decreases the risk of depression

BE SURE TO USE A HIGH-QUALITY, EXPELLER PRESSED (COLD-PRESSED) UNREFINED VIRGIN OLIVE OIL. Also, eat your olive oil RAW and UNHEATED. When cooking with oils, use avocado or coconut oils instead, as they have higher smoke points.

HEALTHY STORE-BOUGHT DRESSING OPTIONS

As you can see above in my Asian Dressing recipe, I use two store-bought dressings. I REALLY love the primal Kitchen brand because they use avocado oil instead of refined, inflammatory, processed oils (like canola oil). They can be a little pricey, but they are delicious, and a great substitute if needed for a quick topping. They're also non-GMO certified and dairy free!

My favorite Primal Kitchen dressings are Sesame Ginger, Honey Mustard, and Caesar.

They have a TON of different condiment options, including several flavors of mayo, which taste great in chicken salad!

Primal Kitchen is available at Target, Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, and other grocery store chains. You can also shop the entire line on their website.

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