Doctor's Kitchen Monday: Salad Dressings

(Great photo but I can't claim it.  For more salad ideas, see this and more at www.saladaday.org )

Salad dressings are my personal poison, along with Coca-cola. Fat and sugar, always my frenemies. I could eat salad three meals a day if only I could find dressings that taste like home-made rich, fatty, tongue-pleasing bleu cheese without calorie counts in ten digits.  Auntie Miranda and my friend, Ashley, have been helping me on this quest so I will gladly plagiarize their experimentations.  Okay, okay. I want to sound like I'm being evil but, really, they gave me permission.

Click on the link below for low cal/low fat salad dressings: two versions of Poppyseed and a Blueberry vinaigrette..

Diet update:  I've now lost 2.5% of my body weight so I'm 1/4 to my minimum goal of losing 10% of my body weight before Halloween.  The 10% goal is based on studies showing that for people with a significant amount of weight to lose, even 10% reduction will bring positive effects to health such as reducing blood pressure. 

So after I got back on the eating healthy bandwagon, I've done a little better about not drinking soda at work and not eating carrot cake from the cafeteria every time I have a difficult patient.

I'm getting more exercise too.  My friend Barb, from work, and I are going to water aerobics  The hilarious part is--we're the YOUNGEST people there!  But it really is a great workout for my knee and we're doing well.  We use the heaviest water weights for the arms workout and I can feel it the next day. We also actually DO the routines instead of just standing in the water gabbing like a lot of people around us. Not that I'm judging, I'm just saying Barb and I are working the routines.  We went two days last week. I also went to an hour belly dancing class one day which is like an hour ab workout.  It's harder than I thought it would be.  We were all sweating at the end so it was cardio as well.  I felt good about it.  Plus, I've been wearing a pedometer to work and I walked a total of 13 miles in three shifts and I did compressions at a code, trading out with Brian, for almost 40 minutes.  If you don't think that's a workout, you should be inside my chest, back, and arm muscles afterwards!  So to recap that's 3 exercise classes, 13 miles walked, and 20 minutes of compressions.  Not too bad.

Next week my goal is to go to water aerobics twice, go to bellydancing class once, and bike at least once, on top of the walking during work.  I'm trying to start small, do things I like, and not beat myself up if I don't accomplish everything I'd love, in my head, to do.  That goes for food and exercise, and doubly for the rest of the my life as well.

Poppy Seed Dressing

from Ashley, original source unknown

Whisk together in a bowl:

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

3 Tbsp Splenda

1 tsp Lemon juice

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Store in fridge in a tightly concealed container for about a week.

Makes 8 servings (2 Tbsp each) or 1 cup

Nutrition counts per 2 tbsp serving:  Calories:  34.5;  Protein: 2;  Carbs: 2;  Fat: 0

For those on weight watchers, this equals 0 points.

Poppy Seed Dressing II

Here's another great version from Auntie Miranda.  It all depends on if you like your poppyseed dressing creamy or as more of a vinaigrette:

Whisk together in a bowl:

1 Tbsp expeller- pressed light olive or canola oil

2 Tbsp Water

1/4 cup Splenda

2 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar

1/3 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Poppy seeds

Makes about 1/2 cup dressing

Nutrition counts per 2 tbsp serving:  Calories:  38;  Protein:  0; Carbs:  9;  Fat 1.5

Blueberry Vinaigrette

inspired by recipe in 417 magazine.

Whiz together in blender or food processor:

1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

3 Tbsps Spenda brown sugar

1 tsp chopped fresh mint

1 Tbsp expeller-pressed canola or walnut oil

1/3 cup water

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Nutrition counts per 2 Tbsp serving:  Calories: 23;  Protein:  0;  Carbs:  2.5;  Fat: 1.5

Comments

[Kalyn]

The dressings sound very good, but a word of caution about the first one from a fellow dieter. I avoid fat free sour cream like the plague, because most often it's loaded with added sugar to replace the fat. I do love low-fat sour cream though, which doesn't really add that much fat. Another product that I think would taste great here is fat free Greek yogurt. In Utah, I can get the fat free Greek yogurt at Wild Oats.

Feel free to ignore all my advice if you don't care about the sugar, this is just something I've noticed!)

[Anupama]

Hi there ! Came here thru Nandita's blog. I think your blog is very vibrant. I really liked the family photos. Another thing that caught my attention is the William Sonoma Pan. Its fantastic. I mean if I made that cake for my 5 yr old he would be on cloud 9. Can it be bought easily? Do come over to my blog too and see if you would like to be part of my Blog Picnic Event

[Deborah]

I love homemade salad dressings - and they are even better than the store bought ones because you can control what goes into them.

Congrats on all of the exercise - there are so many benefits. I couldn't survive without it!!

[Katiez]

I make a creamy salad dressing with 1/2 cup plain yogurt (you can use fat free or not), 1 tbs Dijon mustard, 1 tbs lemon juice, some fresh herbs of choice and 1 - 2 tbs olive oil.... kind of like a 'real-food' ranch (instead of additives and preservatives)
Try it...let me know if you like it~

[candy]

when i get a salad to eat "healthier" i always ruin it with toppings (i just CAN'T pass up cheese!) and dressing. but it does get me more veggies than i normally eat. i wish i was less lazy so i'd make my own dressing :)

[Alisha]

That is a great photo! I want a salad JUST LIKE THAT. :)

Congrats on your weight loss so far! I think it's great the variety of exercise you're doing -- all movement is good and counts!

[Cynthia]

I've never been good at salad dressings so I usually resolve to a sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

[sher]

That's a gorgeous picture! You're doing great! Thanks for the recipes--salad dressing can ruin the healthiness of a salad, so those are much appreciated!

[Glenna]

Kalyn--Yeah, I thought about that too. I usually use light sour cream also but I didn't want to change the recipe since I didn't know where it came from so folks can choose which they'd rather use. Thanks for pointing that out.

Anupama--Thank you for all the kind words. The pan is easily bought from William-Sonoma and can be found on their web site.

Deborah--I agree. I love that there are no big word ingredients that I have no idea what they are and these are so simple and easy that it's not a huge deal to make them fresh, or most vinaigrettes for that matter. I think it's a lot about getting into the habit of making dressings together fresh.

Katie--That sounds wonderful! I admit I'm one of those creamy dressing people. I like vinaigrettes but I really love creamy dressings. Thanks for the recipe.

Candy--Oh I know. Me too. And then I try to justify the cheese and bleu cheese dressing by adding beans for the fiber and whatnot. Doesn't work but in my mind I'm doing well.

Alisha--Thanks. It is a great photo but it's not mine. It's from that salad a day web site that I left the link too. It looked like a great site.

Cynthia--you are my hero! Seriously. I don't know why I think salad has to be wet to be good...

Sher--You're welcome. And again, not my photo but you're right, it's so beautiful it sure makes you want to eat salad, eh?

[Tartelette]

Congratulations on your sucess! Hard work pays off and I am sure you are feeling the effect of such chnages everyday. Bravo!

[Glenna]

Helene--You're so nice. Thanks so much for the support.

[Tanna]

Each little success breeds the next - so glad this is working for you and you are keeping your head in the process. Yes, I'm with Kalyn and the fat free stuff, I do try to avoid the sugar thing. The dressings look really good, and thanks for each.

[Glenna]

Tanna--I agree. One step at a time, one victory at a time. Just going back to work and walking those miles is a victory to me.

[michael jones]

Really great post! I have to say that the water aerobics is something very healthy and funny!

[Glenna]

Michael--thanks for the comment and I totally agree--water aerobics IS fun!

[TruthAboutAbsAddiction The Easy Way to Get Abs]

So, I tried out that Salad dressing, the first one, and it was absolutely awesome! Wonderful job with that.

Thanks and awesome blog!