Italian Salad Dressing--Healthy and Easy

Italian Salad Dressing Easy to Store and Serve Up one LivSpoonful at a Time

A few years ago I decided to make my own salad dressings. There were a couple of reasons I wanted to do it. The first and foremost was that I didn’t like the after taste left in my mouth by store bought dressings. And then when looking at the ingredients I saw there was inevitably too much added sugar and salt, emulsifiers (like xanthan gum or wheat) and synthetic preservatives or colors. It made sense to me to experiment making my own dressings. I developed a delicious mustard vinaigrette made of healthy ingredients. Then over time I kept making it healthier and healthier so it had less oil and more fresh ingredients like lemon juice.

I have been stuck on the same vinaigrette for years. It seemed like time to expand my repertoire. My next goals were to develop a healthy Italian dressing and a healthy Ranch dressing. These are the most common salad dressings and with these 3 choices you can have an already-made homemade dressing that will go with any menu. Below is my newly developed Italian dressing which uses a delicious herbal mix as a key ingredient:

Herb-infused Italian Dressing

Herbal mix
Ingredients~
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon sugar in the raw
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon dried mustard

Directions~
1. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together. Use 2 tablespoons dry mix per  recipe of salad dressing.
2. Store remaining mix in an airtight container to be used as needed.

Makes about 4 recipes of Herbal Italian Dressing.

Italian dressing
Ingredients~
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons herbal mix
1 tablespoon red pepper, finely chopped

Directions~
1. In a glass jar with a top, add all ingredients. With top firmly in place, shake well.
2. Store in the refrigerator. Stores well for 2 – 3 weeks.

Makes about 1 cup. Serving size: 2 tablespoons per person. Calories per serving: 35.

Looking for a handy way to serve up right-sized portions of salad dressing? Try chic and trendy LivSpoons.


Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Slaw Salad Dressing--Tasty and Easy

Easy and Healthy Slaw Dressing

 As the weather gets warmer we start thinking about recipes that are easy to prepare and well suited for outdoor meals from barbecues to picnics to family dinners. Tasty sides are key to the ease of serving up these meals. Finding recipes where the dish or the elements of a dish can be prepared ahead, even a day or two before, is ideal.


One such recipe that is a go-to for me is a salad dressing for slaws. You can make it a couple of days ahead and then add it to a prepared slaw you buy at the store from traditional cabbage slaw to a broccoli slaw. It is also easy to prepare a slaw from any raw vegetable you prefer at home and then add the slaw dressing just before you are ready to serve up. Any leftovers can be added as a topping to burgers, fajitas or sliders. Below is the easy to prepare slaw dressing:

Tasty and Easy Slaw Salad Dressing

Ingredients~
½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt (Chobani)
¼ cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon celery seeds
¾ teaspoon prepared horseradish
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ course ground pepper


Directions~
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well until blended.
2. Cover and Chill.
3. Stir into slaw. Total recipe works well for 6 cups of slaw.

Yield: 1 cup. Serving size: 2 tablespoons. Calories per serving: 34. Calories per 1 cup: 272.


Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!


Innovative Idea: Want an easy way to serve up your dressings in single servings of 2 tablespoons (⅛ cup)? We have the perfect choice--LivSpoons! They come in 4 sought after serving sizes--1 cup, ¾ cup, ½ cup and ⅛ cup. They make measuring in the kitchen easy and they are so attractive you'll want to use them at your dinner table at every meal. Finally there are beautifully designed serving spoons that measure!

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Springtime Recipes-- Asparagus Vinaigrette

Marinated Asparagus@livligahome

There is nothing more delicious than fresh, seasonal produce. It is so fun in the spring to see the baby lettuce and the small stemmed asparagus. After the doldrums of winter it is a delight to be re-inspired by newly available foods. Good, fresh food does not need much preparation.

One of my family's favorites is to blanche (briefly steam for about 3 to 4 minutes) asparagus and then put a light vinaigrette on it. It is great as a salad or cold vegetable at any meal from brunch to dinner. We are even known to snack on the leftovers!

The main thing is to not put too much dressing on the asparagus. A light coating is all you need. You also don't need a heavy dressing with lots of oil. You can serve it right away or leave it to marinate and chill for a couple of hours or more in your refrigerator.

My easy, light vinaigrette is as follows:

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon olive oil
Pinch of dried basil
Pinch of sea salt

Put all of this in an empty jar (I save mustard jars). Shake until completely blended. Pour over the asparagus. You may only need half of the recipe amount depending on the size of the bunch of asparagus you prepared. Also, you can double the vinaigrette recipe easily if you think you will need a larger amount of the dressing. It is a very flexible recipe.

Enjoy! and Live Vibrant!

Innovative Idea: Want an easy way to serve up your dressings in single servings of 2 tablespoons (⅛ cup)? We have the perfect choice--LivSpoons! They come in 4 sought after serving sizes--1 cup, ¾ cup, ½ cup and ⅛ cup. They make measuring in the kitchen easy and they are so attractive you'll want to use them at your dinner table at every meal. Finally there are beautifully designed serving spoons that measure!

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