When we say we are going to eat healthy and change our lifestyle, the first thing we start doing is eating more salad. And then we drown it in a dressing that is full of cream, fat, sugar and salt. You might as well have eaten a brownie. So how do you make healthy salads full of yummy flavor? You experiment with a variety of lettuces, like bibb, endive or radicchio. You add fruits, both fresh and dried. Add different types of beans. Nuts are another great way, as long as you a not allergic. They can be salty, sweet and salty, or spicy.
Your salad dressings can be made from fresh fruit, a good fresh vinegar and a variety of oils. Sure beats that store bought stuff hands down. My husband always makes the dressings at the restaurant from scratch. He can't stand the junk that comes in those huge plastic tubs that have been sitting for God knows how long on a shelf. His Balsamic Berry Vinagrette is to die for. I could bathe in the stuff. He even makes the Spiced Pecans from scratch too. So if the price of his salad is $1.50 more than other restaurants, believe me it is worth it. http://www.rippingtonswaxhaw.com/ Go pay him a visit.
Still on the subject of my 'Dinner with Friends' invitation at my neighbors house, one of their guests was Casey. I have had nice conversations with Casey at church and in the past she has attended my Zumba classes. http://www.zumba.com/ Casey is one of those girls that normally you would love to hate. She is gorgeous and has that athletic body that everyone woman dreams of having. To top it off the girl can sing, and her husband is cute. But she is so nice, that you can't not like her. She makes it impossible. Except for that VT Hokie thing :-) Casey brought a beautiful garden salad. The colors were so bright. She added yellow peppers, grape tomatos and cucumbers. And she topped it off with sliced almonds for crunch. I prefer the almonds than those cubed croutons full of fat. We topped off the salad with a balsamic vinagrette dressing.
But here is on of my other favorite made from scratch dressings - Kiwi Vinagrette. I buy the kiwi's in a small case at Costco when available. My son loves Kiwi fruit. But like all teenagers, going through the trouble of peeling it is just too much hard work, so they start to ripen too much and I don't want my money to go to waste. So I peel them to make a dressing. He is not allowed a bite, but he is faster than me and sneaks away with a few. I don't make more than this recipe calls for because I want it fresh, but you can double the recipe. It will keep about a week.
Here is my favorite recipe version that I hope you enjoy.
4 ripe kiwi fruit, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard. You can adjust if you like more tang. Don't use regular yellow mustard, yuck.
Salt and pepper to taste
Put all the ingredients minus the olive oil in a blender and puree. While the blender is still running, slowly pour a stream of olive oil into the mixture so that it will become emulsified (creamy).
Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve.
Great on spinach salad with strawberries too.
Your salad dressings can be made from fresh fruit, a good fresh vinegar and a variety of oils. Sure beats that store bought stuff hands down. My husband always makes the dressings at the restaurant from scratch. He can't stand the junk that comes in those huge plastic tubs that have been sitting for God knows how long on a shelf. His Balsamic Berry Vinagrette is to die for. I could bathe in the stuff. He even makes the Spiced Pecans from scratch too. So if the price of his salad is $1.50 more than other restaurants, believe me it is worth it. http://www.rippingtonswaxhaw.com/ Go pay him a visit.
Still on the subject of my 'Dinner with Friends' invitation at my neighbors house, one of their guests was Casey. I have had nice conversations with Casey at church and in the past she has attended my Zumba classes. http://www.zumba.com/ Casey is one of those girls that normally you would love to hate. She is gorgeous and has that athletic body that everyone woman dreams of having. To top it off the girl can sing, and her husband is cute. But she is so nice, that you can't not like her. She makes it impossible. Except for that VT Hokie thing :-) Casey brought a beautiful garden salad. The colors were so bright. She added yellow peppers, grape tomatos and cucumbers. And she topped it off with sliced almonds for crunch. I prefer the almonds than those cubed croutons full of fat. We topped off the salad with a balsamic vinagrette dressing.
But here is on of my other favorite made from scratch dressings - Kiwi Vinagrette. I buy the kiwi's in a small case at Costco when available. My son loves Kiwi fruit. But like all teenagers, going through the trouble of peeling it is just too much hard work, so they start to ripen too much and I don't want my money to go to waste. So I peel them to make a dressing. He is not allowed a bite, but he is faster than me and sneaks away with a few. I don't make more than this recipe calls for because I want it fresh, but you can double the recipe. It will keep about a week.
Here is my favorite recipe version that I hope you enjoy.
4 ripe kiwi fruit, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard. You can adjust if you like more tang. Don't use regular yellow mustard, yuck.
Salt and pepper to taste
Put all the ingredients minus the olive oil in a blender and puree. While the blender is still running, slowly pour a stream of olive oil into the mixture so that it will become emulsified (creamy).
Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve.
Great on spinach salad with strawberries too.
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