For those of us for whom eating healthy is a way of life, salads are an easy and delicious way to get more vegetables in our diet. There are so many different salads you can create pairing different vegetables and fruits together. The sky is the limit truly! And then a good salad dressing can further help take your salad up a notch or many notches! And most of the times, it does not take much to make a healthy salad dressing. On the contrary, a homemade dressing can be made in less than 10 minutes using common pantry ingredients. Store bought dressings on the other hand, have a ton of ingredients, including hydrogenated fats and refined oils (which are the main culprit in clogging up your liver!) as well as synthetic chemicals used as flavor enhancers, stabilizers or preservatives and SUGAR or HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Most of them also contain one or many allergenic foods like gluten, dairy, nuts, soy, corn or eggs which are to be avoided on elimination diets.
For every serving of vegetables or fruit we consume, we reduce the risk of all-cause mortality (a measurement of overall health and longevity) by 5 percent, with the greatest risk reduction seen with 8 servings per day and more1. Eating more vegetables is also very crucial when you are trying to heal from an autoimmune disease as a lot of nutrients are needed for the proper functioning of the immune system.Eating a salad for at least one meal a day can significantly increase the amount of nutrients your body gets. But many folks think that salads are boring! But they couldn’t be more wrong! Once you start eating salads on a regular basis, creating your own delicious pairings from whatever you have in your fridge, you will soon see that salads can actually be really delicious! That’s why I wanted to do this round up post sharing simple, clean and healthy salad dressings from my favorite bloggers.
I had been planning this post as a welcome post for Spring encouraging my readers to begin eating healthy when everything turns beautiful and when farm fresh vegetables and fruits begin to make their appearances. Times have unfortunately changed in the past few weeks though due to the shutdown and we are all right now living in a state where shopping is limited. So you may be limited in what you have in your pantry. However, I am sure that this post will still give you lots of ideas for making your own salad dressing based upon what is available to you! With dressings as delicious and ‘droolicious’ as these, any salad will seem like an indulgence!
- ‘No Frills’ Salad Dressing Recipe (PALEO, AIP): This ‘no frills’ salad recipe from Joanna of JoannaFrankham.com is according to Joanna, ‘ IDIOT-PROOF, NO FAIL, AIP ‘GO TO’ SALAD DRESSING’ ! It consists of basic pantry staples so go check it out!
- Strawberry Vinaigrette (PALEO, AIP, KETO, WHOLE30): This delightful strawberry vinaigrette by Samantha from ‘The Unskilled Cavewoman‘ with caramelized onions and a wonderful array of herbs and spices will send your taste buds on a happy dance!
- Teriyaki Dressing (PALEO, AIP): When you are in the mood for something asian and / if you want to impress your friends and family, try one of my favorite dressings – sweet and sour teriyaki dressing from my archives!
- Ranch Dressing (PALEO,AIP, KETO, WHOLE30): A good ranch dressing is a must in your repertoire of salad dressings! And this creamy and delicious one from Rebecca of ‘Lichen Paleo Loving AIP ‘ will make you throw away any store bought ones from your cupboard!
- Avocado Caesar Dressing (PALEO, AIP, WHOLE30, KETO): Are you a sucker for Caesar dressing? Then you definitely need to try this avocado version by Beth from ‘Bonaippetit‘ which looks absolutely delicious and uses nutrient dense anchovies as well as nutritional yeast!
- Creamy Cucumber Dill Dressing (PALEO, AIP, WHOLE30, KETO): Continuing with creamy dressings, this refreshing cucumber and dill dressing by Rebecca from ‘Lichenpaleolovingaip‘ is sure to make you want to lick the bowl!
- Turmeric Citrus Dressing (PALEO, AIP, KETO, WHOLE30): A dressing that looks and smells refreshing! Check out this spunky turmeric citrus dressing from Cook2Nourish with flavors of orange and turmeric!
- Roasted Garlic Greek Dressing (PALEO, AIP, KETO, WHOLE30): Classic Greek dressing is good enough right ? But when you add roasted garlic to it, you kick it up several notches! Rebecca from ‘LichenPaleoLovingAIP‘ has another wonderful dressing that you could also use as a sauce for veggies or any protein!
- Greek Salad Dressing (PALEO, AIP, WHOLE30, KETO): This is one dressing that is always sure to please and Erin from ‘Realfoodandlove’ has just the prefect recipe which includes olives! Yum! Check out ‘Greek Salad dressing recipe‘ from ‘Real Food and Love’!
- Orange Blossom Dressing (PALEO, AIP): If you are looking for an exotic dressing, this fruity orange blossom dressing from Kate of ‘Healing family Eats‘ is sure to blow your mind away!
- Poppy Seed Honey Mustard dressing (PALEO): This dressing is great as a salad dressing, as a marinade for roasting chicken or as a dip for sweet potato or yuca fries, according to Erin from ‘Real food and Love‘. Get the recipe for it here!
- Herb Oil Dressing (PALEO, AIP, WHOLE30, KETO): This blended herbed dressing from Kate of ‘Healing Family Eats‘ looks so full of flavor with the fresh mint and parsley and will go fabulously with a seafood salad or any kind of salad!
