When you make your own salad dressing, you are in control of each ingredient. You can also design it to your own taste buds. Most salad dressings sold in stores contain processed oils, sugar, salt, and other additives and chemicals. Today I will give you a great salad dressing recipe filled with healthy nutrients that you can adapt.
Let’s look at the ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil – is one of several healthy fats. Make sure it’s extra virgin olive oil. This means that the oil is unrefined and has more nutrients, antioxidants, and heart-healthy fats. You can also use avocado oil, hazelnut oil, walnut oil, and flaxseed oil. Healthy fats are anti-inflammatory and provide the body with energy and building blocks for various tissues.
Red wine vinegar – contains powerful polyphenol antioxidants, including resveratrol and anthocyanins. Red wine vinegar has a number of benefits including lowering blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
Orange zest – is rich in fiber, vitamin C, folate, vitamin B6, calcium and other essential nutrients. The skin of the oranges contains 4 times as many nutrients as the inside of the orange and a good amount of polyphenols that protect against several diseases. Orange peels have anti-cancerous properties, due to the presence of limonene, a naturally occurring chemical. It’s best to get from an organic orange due to the pesticides in the skin of an orange.
Dijon mustard – acts as a healthy emulsifier that gives body to the dressing.
Orange juice – loaded with vitamin C, the juice from an orange is used as a way to add sweetness to the dressing without sugar.
Liquid stevia – this is another way to sweeten the dressing without increasing blood sugar levels.
And here’s the recipe. Feel free to adapt to your taste. You can change to another healthy oil, use different kinds of vinegar, and adjust the sweetness by adding more or less liquid stevia.
Ginny’s Homemade Salad Dressing
Ginny’s Healthy Vinaigrette Dressing
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup orange juice
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. orange zest/rind
1 dropper liquid stevia
I usually double this recipe. I also make it in a Good Season’s salad cruet or my Pampered Chef salad dressing mixer container. Then there’s nothing to wash!
What healthy salad dressing recipes can you share?
For Your Health,
Ginny
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