Monday, June 27, 2011

Why I Make My Own Salad Dressing




My husband took our two older boys with him to a speaking engagement this evening, and my littlest is on his 5th serving of salad... and so I had time to write a quick post! (I'm not exaggerating about the 5th serving!)

Look at that happy little face! I am happy for him to eat his lettuce drenched in this homemade salad dressing because it is super nutritious, and he obviously is enjoying every bite!



I don't use measurements, but here's an approximation of what I used:

2 organic strawberries, stems removed
pinch of celtic sea salt
1/4 cup good quality apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup local unrefined honey
1/2 cup good quality olive oil

I just put these in the food processor and blend them up. Easy Easy. 3 minutes - tops. But like I said... I don't use measurements, so just taste and see what you need to add to yours.

So here is why I go to the trouble of making my own dressing....

The first reason is because of the quality of ingredients. Mainly, I do it for the oil. By the time most oils get to our supermarket shelf, they are rancid... and this applies to the oils in salad dressings. Also, for reasons too numerous to write now, we do not eat vegetable oil or canola oil either...which are the oil of choice in most pre-made dressings.

But besides that...the good quality sea salt is full of essential minerals, the apple cider vinegar has probiotics and balances our PH, the unrefined local honey is full of vitamins, minerals and tons of enzymes, and the olive oil is fresh and full of plenty of healthy antioxidants.

The second reason that I make my own dressing is because we can have a different taste every night! We eat salad at least daily, sometimes twice a day, and I want to keep my family interested! Last night we had French, tomorrow we might have Ranch... it's always a surprise for them! If you have a mini food processor (mine is tiny) it makes the work a breeze, but you can also just use a fork or a whisk and and mix it by hand. (My little food processor has been going strong since I bought it over 6 years ago - and I use it two or three times daily - so I think it's a great little investment)

So that's it for my quick post... try the strawberry dressing. I think I'll go eat the rest of it with a spoon ;)