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...)

Top 3 Pinterest Recipes I'm Not Cooking Right Now

After a rocky start with Pinterest, I'm now completely on board with that time-suck of a website. I pin and ogle, pin and ogle, again and again and again. My favorite place to pin is while waiting in the never-ending car line at the kids' school. Have you noticed that the pins on the mobile Pinterest seem much more interesting than the ones on the computer?

Here's the thing about Pinterest, though: do you ever actually go back and visit your own boards? Are you making the recipes that you've pinned to your food board?

I sure as heck don't!

But if I did, here's what I would fix:

Honey Crisp, Kiwi, Raspberry Salad



Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with some vanilla yogurt. So easy...why haven't I done this? Oh yeah, because I don't visit my own boards!
P.S. Those don't look like Honey Crisp apples...seems to be Granny Smith from the looks of it.

Quinoa, Red Pepper, Cucumber Salad



This one's even got an official recipe. Maybe that's why I haven't fixed it.

No Bake Pumpkin Bites



Oh wait! I have made these...but only because I was the one who found the recipe and made it into a pin for Pinterest. Doesn't count!

And finally,

Sunflower Cupcakes



I know those aren't healthy, but they are adorable and my daughter has a birthday coming up this weekend. I just may need to break my streak and actually use one of my Pinterest pins.

Do you use Pinterest in the way it was intended?

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Workout of the Day

P90X Core Synergistics

Meatless Monday: Plateful O'Veggies

Back a few years ago when we started trying to have a few meals here or there that didn't feature meat as the star attraction, I'd do this thing called "Veggie Night." It was pretty much how it sounds: a plate full of three or four kinds of veggies. I was always surprised at how filling, yet low-calorie those nights were!

If you're not much of a cook and/or new to the meatless thing, try Veggie Night. Pick a few veggies you like, make a ton of 'em, and load up your plate. See how it fills you up and makes you feel the next day.

Here's a sample menu:

- Mashed butternut squash (cut it in half and bake face-down in a 375-degree oven till soft)
- Steamed snap peas (buy them frozen and microwave them)
- Roasted new potatoes (cut them in quarters, sprinkle with olive oil and cook at the same time as the squash. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dill weed to serve.)

If you're feeling adventurous with greens, try this recipe (another favorite from the Ultimate Reset). We like it so much we brought it to Christmas Dinner last year!

Coconut Collard Greens

Ingredients
1½ tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ yellow onion, diced
½ bunch collard greens, washed, stems removed, and cut into ½-inch strips
¼ cup coconut milk
⅛ tsp. Himalayan salt (optional)

Directions
Heat oil in large wok or pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until golden brown and very soft. Add collard greens and stir well. Add coconut milk and stir. Sauté another 10 minutes, or until greens are very tender. Add salt. Serves 1.

BONUS! When you fix this recipe you will have some leftover coconut milk. Save it! Within a day or two, bake a butternut squash or an acorn squash, scoop out the flesh and mix it with your leftover coconut milk and some nutmeg. Those three ingredients will create a knockout soup! 

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Workout of the Day

It's heeeeerrrree!!

A-2 day. We've had Asylum 2 in the house for a couple months now, but running training prevented us from tackling it straight away. Zach's recovered and we're ready to DO THIS! Day one was X-Trainer, and it was really fun! The workout was 49 minutes of agility training, and it went by really fast. I can't wait to see what the next 30 days are going to look like. 

Last night we were previewing the workout, and Kate said, "Hey, he (Shaun T) has the same bumps on his stomach like Mom does!"

Thanks, Kate! That's called a 6-pack. I appreciate you noticing! I'm going to go write this date down now. 

Slow Cooker Cranberry Applesauce

If you've never fixed homemade applesauce in a slow cooker, get out your "To-Do" list and jot it down right now. The toughest thing about homemade applesauce is peeling and coring the apples, and heck, that ain't so hard. And the payoff of that warm, sweet, chunky applesauce more than makes up for a few minutes peeling some apples.

I'll give you my basic applesauce recipe below, but what I really want to show you is a twist on homemade applesauce that I made a few weeks ago: Slow Cooker Cranberry Applesauce.

One of my happiest days of the year is the day that cranberries show up at the grocery store, and we usually have a bowl of fresh cranberry sauce in our fridge from November through February (cranberries freeze beautifully, so I stock up). I eat it as a side to the Thanksgiving turkey, of course, but also on top of yogurt or with some granola sprinkled on top. (Find my recipe for cranberry sauce here.)

About a month ago when the grocery store was overflowing with fall apples, I decided to make applesauce. It was tremendous, but I had a nagging thought that it was missing something. Something like cranberries!

A quick Internet search turned up several cranberry applesauce variations, but I chose to stick close to my original recipe with cranberries added in.

Here's the recipe to use for basic applesauce, and if you want to add some cranberries, then just throw some in!

Ingredients: 

8 medium apples (Use a combination of Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala, etc.)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice 

1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

3 inch cinnamon stick or about 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

5 tsp light brown sugar (unpacked) - or agave

(Optional) 1 cup of fresh cranberries

1.  Peel, core and chop the apples.

2.  Add the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon stick, and cranberries, if using.

3.  Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce. 

Remove cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender or potato masher to blend until smooth or if you prefer a chunky sauce, leave sauce intact. 

So good! Try it this weekend as your after-dinner, cozy-up-with-a-movie snack.

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Workout of the Day
Still nursing the sore lower back, so na-da. Things better shape up soon, because I've got to be in tip-top shape to tackle Asylum 2 as soon as Zach is done with his marathon in a few weeks!

Edamame Hummus

We're some serious hummus connoisseurs over here. Well, maybe not connoisseurs -- I wouldn't say we're snobby about it, or anything. I guess we're more like serious hummus consumers. We eat a lot of the stuff. I make at least one batch per week, sometimes more, and I feel a little guilty if I fall down on the job and don't have any in the fridge.

I've experimented with several variations on traditional hummus, which is made with chickpeas (garbanzo beans). I've done roasted red pepper hummus, black bean hummus...even peanut butter hummus (thumbs down). But none have stacked up to the original, until now. Edamame hummus was so good it could compete for the title as #1 hummus in the house.

The only reason the chickpea version might edge out the edamame is because chickpeas are cheaper (of course, I love the cheaper option) and faster, because you have to cook the edamame for a few minutes.

But this is a great "treat" hummus, and it even looks green and ghoulish in honor of Halloween today!

Here's the recipe (shout out to my Mom who told me about it!):

Ingredients:
1.5 cups frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 TB olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
(note: adjust seasonings as desired -- I added a little more cumin, plus some Tabasco and my customary 1 dollop of plain yogurt for creaminess)

Directions
1. Place edamame in pot and cover with salted water. Place over medium-low heat, bring to a simmer, and cook till tender; about 5 minutes. Drain.
2. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Workout of the Day
Les Mills PUMP: Pump & Shred

Y'all, Zach is still training for the upcoming Dallas marathon, and I am just so thankful that I got out of the running business in time for the weather to turn cooler! I am a fair weather exerciser...heck, I am a fair weather HUMAN, and do not operate well in temperatures below...uhhh, let's say 76. That's a pretty optimal temperature, in my book. He's doing really well, though, and completed 20 miles last Saturday. Looking forward to cheering him on at the race on December 7!

Chipotle and Lime Roasted Potatoes

I fixed these potatoes last night, and they rocked the house!

I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen blog, but it originated from another lady named Meredith who has a blog entitled "In Sock Monkey Slippers."

Before I get into the recipe, a confession:

I am generally too cheap and lazy to buy fresh lemons and limes. I buy a bottle of each at the store and keep them in my fridge to use "whenever." But my last veggie co-op delivery included about eight limes, and man, am I some kind of stupid for not regularly buying fresh lemons and limes. What a difference!

It's kind of like how I try to convince myself that green peppers "don't taste that different" than red or orange peppers because green peppers are 75 cents each and red peppers are $1.60 each. Each time I splurge and get the red pepper I remember: there is a difference.

When I was squeezing the limes for this dish and my hands and kitchen had such a pleasant, citrus-y smell, I vowed that I would get fresh lemons and limes more often in the coming months. I'll probably pick some up this week, since I'm going to be making these potatoes again pretty quick.

The pairing of the smoky chipotle chiles in adobo with the lime and the cilantro...wow. The dressing had some kick to it, so I pulled some of the plain roasted potatoes out to give to the kids since they don't "do" spicy.

One other question before I post the recipe. What's with zesting? This recipe calls for a full tablespoon of lime zest. First of all, it would take, like, 16 limes to get a full tablespoon of lime zest. And does it make that big of a difference? I zested one lime, got maybe .0008 of a teaspoon of shavings, and called it a day. Can anybody tell me what all that zest does for you? Maybe I just don't have the right tool for zesting? Currently I use the small hole side of my cheese grater.

Regardless, these potatoes are the bomb. Fix 'em for your upcoming Labor Day picnic!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Small New Potatoes
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 1 whole Chipotle Pepper Packed In Adobo Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Adobo Sauce
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Grated Lime Zest
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
• 2 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Cilantro 

Preparation Instructions
Note: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found canned in most major grocery stores (typically in the Mexican food section).

• 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. With a knife, slice the potatoes in half. Place the halved potatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the potatoes. Add salt and toss with your hands until the potatoes are thoroughly coated with oil and salt. Place in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring once, until golden and the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
  
  2. While the potatoes are cooking: Remove one chipotle pepper from the can and mince it (chop into small pieces). Place it in a large bowl. Using the adobo sauce that the peppers are packaged in, add 2 teaspoons of sauce to the minced pepper in the bowl.
  
  3. Peel and mince the garlic clove. Add it to the bowl as well.
  
  4. Next, add the lime zest, lime juice and 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
  
  5. Whisk everything together until combined.
  
  6. Once the potatoes are done and still hot, pour them into the chipotle lime dressing. Add cilantro and gently stir to combine, making sure every potato is covered. Plate and serve.
  
   

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Workout of the Day

Insanity: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Here we go! One Insanity workout per week for the next seven weeks. First one is checked off, and it wasn't too bad. I was scared, but the way to get over fear is to just do it. So we did! And you know what? It wasn't that bad.

 

 

 

Beet Chips

I don't buy chips much anymore, but if I do, they are usually Terra Chips.

Have you had these before? They are super good! There are different flavors, but I like the "Sweets & Beets," which are thinly sliced sweet potato and beet chips. Although Terra likes to boast that you get a full serving of veggies when you eat these chips...don't kid yourself. They're still chips. You still get a lot of sodium and oil along with that serving of veggies.

Anyhow, although we eat raw beets all the time, it didn't occur to me that I could make homemade beet chips until I picked up the latest issue of Sunflower Market's August 2012 newsletter. (Side note: my beloved Sunflower Market has now merged with Sprouts. The store seems largely the same, but I really hope they continue to produce their little magazine thing. It always has great recipes in it and good stories, too.)

On page 6 they show you how to make kale, beet, and sweet potato chips. There's not even a recipe, really; you just slice them nice and thin (or in the case of kale, tear the leaves up a bit, see post here), coat thinly with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, dried thyme and oregano. Bake them at 325 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. I flipped them partway through to encourage them to crisp up but not burn.

Here's what they looked like before they went in the oven:

And before I show you the "after" photo, I'll let George Costanza tell you about a little phenomenon called "shrinkage."

 "I don't know how you walk around with those things." Best. Line. Ever.

 I sliced all those beets, and here's what came out of the oven:

Sorry...for some reason this photo would not rotate.

Geez! I would have to slice about nine beets to get enough beet chips to feed a crowd. Shrinkage aside, though, these were really delicious! They tasted just like the Terra chips. Pleasantly salty and crispy with a sweet taste. I really liked them, and so did the kids.

I'm not sure I'll be making beet chips on a regular basis, but it's always fun to experiment to see if you can re-create something you usually buy at the store.

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Workout of the Day

P90X2 Core - Recovery week! I need it.

Quick and Tangy Yogurt Salsa Dressing

Two lousy tablespoons of Ranch dressing has 11 grams of fat in it. 11! That takes the wind out your sails when you're trying to do something "good" by eating a salad.

I get quite a few questions about healthy dressing options, so I wanted to post this one I've found that is an absolute winner. This yogurt salsa dressing is creamy, has a zip to it, and comes together in less than five minutes. It's also versatile. I like to serve it on veggie or bean burgers, on taco salad...even on just a regular old garden salad.

The mixture of the agave, lime and the cumin and chili powder spices...mmm. It's got a Mexican feel, for sure, but don't let that stop you from throwing this on any old thing you want. Get crazy with it!

 

Here's what you do:

Ingredients
1/2 cup salsa (choose your favorite - I used Pace)
2 TB plain low-fat yogurt or plain greek yogurt
1 TB lime juice
1 tsp maple syrup or agave nectar
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder

Directions
Put all the above in a bowl and mix it with a spoon until incorporated.

See? Easy! I bet you have all that stuff in your pantry right now. Make it this week and let me know what you think!

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Workout of the Day

Les Mills Pump Extreme

This is the granddaddy of the Pump workouts, and I was screaming at the end of the lunge track. We've been doing this workout for a little more than a month, and my legs have never felt stronger. Literally -- like, when I feel them they feel muscular, and that's not like any legs attached to my body that I remember. 

I know this is one of the more expensive programs in Beachbody's workout library, but it is so fun, and so worth it. Here are the details about the packages, and it's also available in a Challenge Pack -- that means you get Shakeology with it, too. If that ain't a winning combination, I don't know what is.