Leaf-ing The Beaten Path: 3 Alternate Salad Dressings You Should Try
Salads can be delicious and nutritious meals for you and your family, but supermarket salad packs are often created and sold with the intent of being paired with some sort of dressing to add flavor to otherwise rather tasteless leaves and mini shreds of carrots — and if you're not a fan of the traditional salad dressings (ranch, thousand island, French, or Italian), you may find yourself in a bit of a pickle when it comes to eating your leafy greens. So if you find yourself making a face at the salad dressing selection you usually find before you, then here are a couple dressing ideas to make salads delicious again.
Cilantro + Lime Juice + Sesame Oil
By combining a simple herb with some lime juice and a splash of smoky sesame oil, you'll get a dressing you won't soon forget. This delicious dressing has a touch of Asian flair about it, making it perfect for salads containing water chestnuts, bamboo strips, and other staples of Asian cuisine. It's best to blend these ingredients briefly in a food processor (3 or 4 tablespoons of oil, 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice, and about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of cilantro for a personal serving) until they come together, then pour over your salad and mix to combine.
Balsamic Vinegar
Found in a lot of Italian pasta recipes, balsamic is a heavily concentrated vinegar that hails from Italy and is made out of grapes. The dark but slightly sweet vinegar packs a whole lot of flavor into a very little bit of liquid and is thus perfect for tossing with a salad; the vinegar should flavor each piece but won't overwhelm the greenery with either flavor nor weight. When using balsamic, it's best to pair it with a salad that has a bit of protein in it for maximum flavor — chicken is by far the best meat for this, as the balsamic enhances its flavor without being masked by a stronger meat.
You can look at different options from a shop like PEAK OLIVE OIL.
Lemon Juice + Salt + Pepper
Sometimes the simplest dressings can be the best, enhancing the natural flavor of your greenery and veggies without overcomplicating the taste in your mouth — and this is why the last dressing you should try is just a simple combination of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. The lemon juice gives the salad a bright flavor, while the salt brings out the flavor in the greenery and the pepper adds a bit of a kick to the back of your throat — a perfect combination for someone who doesn't want to eat their salad bare and who wants a dressing that adds flavor without adding calories.