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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes

I'm wondering if you can do me a favor this Tuesday morning. It's a small favor, even though it's going to sound big. Here it is:

Can you commit to never, ever, ever buying salad dressing again?

I know, I know. Half of you have a scrunched up look on your face because you're wondering what you're going to put on your salads from now on, and the other half thought, "That's cool. I just won't eat salads anymore."

Here's the thing: you can make your own very delicious salad dressing in a matter of minutes that is free of preservatives, dyes, and yucky stuff you can't pronounce. Will it taste like the artery-clogging Hidden Valley Ranch that you love so much? No. Will it be just as good, plus about 14,000 times healthier for you? Yes.

You don't even need any special equipment. Do you have a bowl? You can mix dressing. If you want to get fancy, you can get a shaker cup designed for dressings, but if not, no biggie. You have a mason jar or something else with a lid? You're in business.


I learned about making salad dressing when we did the Ultimate Reset cleanse a year ago. Talk about some delicious dressings! I had no idea how simple it was to whip up your own salad dressing until then, and I've spent the last year experimenting and simplifying until I broke it down to this:

Simple Salad Dressing for the Laziest of Lazies (this means me about four times a week!)
Make your salad
Spray some olive oil on it (you can buy some very nifty spray olive oils at the store nowadays, or purchase your own mister and put olive oil)
Sprinkle about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar on it

VOILA! Surprisingly good dressing and it took about 1 minute.

Say hello to your new best friends!
BUT: Say it's Saturday night and you've got some friends coming over. You need something a little fancier than the old oil and vinegar concoction:

Creamy Garlic Dressing (from the Ultimate Reset)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 TB fresh lemon juice
2 TB chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 TB honey or agave nectar

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth. Makes 8-10 servings.

Basic Vinaigrette
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (you can also use balsamic vinegar here)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. honey or agave nectar
2 TB lemon juice
(optional) 2 tsp fresh herbs, such as basil, oregano, parsley, or dill

Mix all ingredients together in shaker cup or blender.

Worried about the extra fat in olive oil? Here's an oil-free, vegan dressing from Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Diet:

Beam Me Up, Scottie Dressing
3 TB balsamic vinegar
2 TB any mustard
1 TB agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup
Smidge of water.

Mix all ingredients together in a shaker cup or blender.

There you go! Four simple dressings that will keep you out of the fatty dressing aisle at the store. Try these out and let me know what you think!

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Workout of the Day
Asylum 2: Upper Elite

Ah...60 minutes of crushing the upper body. Asylum 2 is one of my all-time favorite programs. I've been struggling with my lower back for the past few weeks, but I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I was able to give this workout a very good effort -- probably 85-90%, which is better than I've been able to do for the past few weeks. Felt great! (May not feel so great tomorrow...)