ciliege/cherries

We spend our lives working hard, personally and professionally. Work hard, play hard, right?  The same can be said about eating.  And, I try really hard to eat well.

Nonetheless, I continuously find myself getting frustrated with the struggle I have with my weight. While I am very aware that I am an emotional eater, it has only been in recent years that I realized that the hard work I put into eating well has been somewhat moot.  With all my thought efforts, the truth is I did not eat smart.

So I routinely and purposefully work toward eating smart? No. I swing by the store whenever a thoughtful whim of delicious food pops in my head.  Thoughtful whims are great; don’t get me wrong.  But there needed to be a rhyme to the reason.  In reevaluating what I was cooking in the kitchen and the foods I consumed over the last several years, I made several changes.  The list is long, but some of the changes I embraced have included incorporating more whole grains in my diet, reducing sodium, and utilizing agave over other sweeteners.

Manually Chopped

Luckily, one area I have always been conscience with is dressings/vinaigrettes.  Salads loaded with raw vegetables, including greens, are filled with remarkable nutrients. Yet, a common mistake is the act of drowning those nutrients with fatty dressings that are loaded with calories. Making dressings/vinaigrettes can cut a lot of calories and fat from a diet, and it’s not difficult.

Growing up with a mom who always made delicious vinaigrette, I never acquired a taste for bottled dressings. So, early on learned how to utilize (and play around with) the 3:1 oil to vinegar ratio. If you haven’t already, you can make the ratio your friend, too. Make it your own.  I have used 2:1 for lower calorie, and it’s really about preferences and taste, right? 

Two to three basic ingredients are all it takes to make a extraordinary accompaniment to a salad. Grab a healthy fat (like olive oil)  an acid (like vinegar or lemon), and  an emulsifier  (like Dijon mustard) if a creamy dressing is desired.  When looking to veer away from the typical oil and (red wine) vinegar dressing, consider fooling around with healthy substitutes.  Balsamic, champagne, or herb vinegars, or less acidic fruit juices, like orange juice and apple cider provide an enjoyable sense of balance that may surprise your tastebuds. Also, keeping your creation close to your heart, a healthy heart, make use of monounsaturated oils, like grapeseed, olive, flax seed, safflower, peanut,  or corn oils.

Pulsed in the food processor

After you take the time to make delicious and healthy dressings, don’t blow it!  Watch the amounts you include on the salad.  Remember, the salad (whether with greens, or beans, or, just roughly chopped vegetables) is the focal point of the dish, not the dressing.  Keep to 2 tablespoons salad dressing or less, like the ping pong ball.  Or, two capfuls.

Now, having said all this, there are times I am super basic.  A squeeze of fresh lemon, to me, is flavor enough. Or a simple mix of lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce works as well.  And that’s what this salsa has mixed in with the cherries and pepper.

How about you?  What are your favorite health and/or timesaver tips for vinaigrettes?

Looking for a few extra tips?  Check out this article, 5 Rrules to Make the Best Low-Calorie Salads, from the Today Show.

*This is a reposting from the early years of Mele Cotte.  I originally stuffed chicken with the salsa.

Other vinaigrettes/dressings you may enjoy:

Vanilla Honey Vinaigrette
Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
Mustard vinaigrette
Creamy Asian Vinaigrette
Truffle Oil Basil Vinaigrette

Tagged as: Cherry Pepper Salsa Recipe, Cherry Salsa, healthy salad dressings, healthy Vinaigrettes, healthy_recipes, Pepper Salsa, sage, salad dressings, summer recipes, Vinaigrette ratios, Vinaigrettes, Worcestershire sauce