How are you doing on your New Years Resolutions this year? Just like every year one of my top goals has to do with my health... getting more sleep, exercising everyday and eating more veggies. With this in mind, I try to have at least one salad a day. I find that I will eat salads more if I have some good stuff on hand, especially dressings (since I really hate most store bought ones-yuk) Even though I get sick of the same old thing I do not want to spend a lot of time creating some gourmet salad everyday. Preparing some good dressing and stocking up on yummy salads stuff really helps you pull together a fantastic (even gourmet-ish) salad in minutes. Today I am sharing one of my favorite dressings that is helping me eat more greens!Years ago when I lived in Utah I had lunch at my friend Gina's house and she served the most wonderful salad with this dressing. Of course I asked her for the recipe, and she kindly shared it with me. I have since made this many times. It is the perfect dressing in my opinion. I use my homemade strawberry jam with great results. I bet you could easily substitute any jam to change the flavor. You can throw together a salad in minutes with whatever you happen to have on hand. The possibilities are endless, but here are a few ideas to get you started:
Choose one or more from each list for a perfectly wonderful salad
*Greens: spinach, romaine, butter , green leaf etc
*Fruit: berries, apple slices, mandarins, pear slices, dried cranberries
*Nut: walnut, pecan, almonds, cashews, sunflowers (try to saute them with butter first, or sugar them--melt a few tablespoons of sugar in a pan add nuts and stir--watch carefully they burn very easily)
*Cheese: Feta, Blue Cheese, Brie, Swiss, cheddar, gouda, shaved parmesan
**If you are not a fan of cheese--try Avocado-yum!
**To make a more hearty salad try adding grilled chicken, sliced cold cuts, shrimp or salmon
Strawberry Vinaigrette
submitted by Melanie~ www.thesisterscafe.com
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1/3 c sugar
3/4 c oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup strawberry jam or jam of choice
Put in a jar with a lid and shake to combine, or place in the blender and pulse. Keep in fridge. ENJOY on your favorite salad!
I made a strawberry vinaigrette all summer long for a fruit and spinach salad I made! I added a little balsamic to my version and loved the combo with some blue cheese or feta!
ReplyDeleteI have a very similar recipe to this using strawberry jam and I love it! I haven't made it in a while.... Ithink I'll try this one with some homemade blackberry jam I have in the freezer. I agree that having good dressing totally helps you eat more greens!
ReplyDeleteI am excited to try your dressing, Mel. Right before our cruise, I was eating salads almost every day for lunch. I agree that it is all about having all the yummy salad foods on hand to throw together for a quick and healthy salad. If it is on and hand and easy, I'll eat them every day!
ReplyDelete