Salads & Dressings

We love salads, and with a little creativity you needn't eat the same salad day in and day out.  

We used to make our own dressings on a regular basis, but since we became conscious of fat and sugars in our diet we've opted for fat free salad dressings unless it's a special occasion.  It's harder to make tasty fat free dressings yourself, since the food processing industry has all kinds of flavor enhancers, emulsifiers and texture stablizers that home cooks don't have.  That being said, fat free mayonnaise, yogurt and sour cream work quite well with salad dressings, although your basic vinegrette is another matter altogether.  We get a bit sick of the fat free dressing offerings, so often we will jazz them up a bit with some good vinegar or some crushed peppers, fresh herbs and what have you.  The recpes below reflect a mixture of our pre- and post- calorie conscious salad dressing recipes.



Mirin Dijon Dressing
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Creamy Italian Dressing
Honey Mustard Dressing
Blue Cheese Dressing
Fat Free Thousand Island

Mirin Dijon Dressing (serves 2)
2 Tb Dijon mustard
2 Tb Aji mirin
1 tsp flax seed oil
1/2 tsp crushed basil
black pepper to taste
  1. Mix together all ingredients, incorporating them well.
  2. Chill and serve. 
Note: I whipped this up one night and it was quite good, but I only made enough for two, so you will have to fiddle with the recipe if you want to make larger quantities.  We used it on an artichoke salad- quite good.


Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
¾ cup buttermilk
¾ cup mayonnaise
½ tsp ground mustard
½ tsp tarragon
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp grated parmesan
  1. Mix together all ingredients, incorporating them well.
  2. Chill and serve.

Creamy Italian Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white Vinegar
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tb corn syrup
2 Tb Parmesean cheese
2 Tb Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1 Tb Lemon Juice
  1. Mix together all ingredients, incorporating them well.
  2. Chill and serve.

Honey Mustard Dressing
1 cup. mayonnaise
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup prepared mustard
3/4 cu. apple cider vingear
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
  1. Mix together all ingredients, incorporating them well.
  2. Chill and serve. 
Note: If you are in a hurry, just mix together 1 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup honey.

Blue Cheese Dressing
1/8 tsp. White Pepper
1 tsp. MSG
3/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Onion salt
1/4 C. Salad oil
1/4 C. Water
1 Tbsp. Wine Vinegar
1 C. Mayonnaise
1 C. Sour Cream
2 oz. Bleu Cheese
  1. Mix together all ingredients, incorporating them well.
  2. Chill and serve.

Fat Free Thousand Island
3/4 cup Fat Free mayo (3 Tb)
1/4 cup chili sauce (1 Tb)
 1/4 cup fat free sour cream (1 Tb)
3 Tb sweet relish (1 Tb)
3-4 drops pepper sauce
1/4 tsp paprika
 1 Tb shallots  (optional)
1 Tb capers (optional)
  1. Mix together all ingredients, incorporating them well.
  2. Chill and serve.






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Marc's Food Pages
Last Updated May 14, 2003
Marc A. Healy