Salad Dressings

Never buy salad dressing again. Seriously. Most of the nutrients in vegetables are lipid-soluble; you will absorb more nutrients if eaten with butter or oil. Most store bought salad dressings have a lot of unnecessary sugar and preservatives. If you make it, you can control the amount of sweetness and freshness of ingredients.

I'll break it down with ratios and what your dressing should have.

Oil to Acid, 3:1. This is just an estimate. Use your taste buds to determine what tastes right.

Oil: Your choice but I prefer to always go olive oil or sesame. Stepping away from vinagrettes: your base can be largely miso paste or avocado for a creamier dressing. Mayo is the base for ranch dressings.

Acids: Vinegar (apple cider, red wine, white wine, sherry, balsamic, rice), lemon juice, lime juice.

Additions: seasoning with herbs/spices (aromatics), mustard (try whole-grain, dijon, spicy brown), honey, Siracha, whatever suits your fancy.

Favorite Combos:

Whisk together ingredients and taste often. If you don't like your final product, don't put it on your salad. Sounds silly but seriously, keep tinkering until it's perfect.

• Olive oil, lemon juice, Siracha, salt, pepper

• Olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, whole-grain mustard, salt, pepper

• Spicy brown mustard or whole-grain, honey (this is one you reallllly have to taste along the way so it doesn't become too sweet, can add oil to thin if it's not runny enough but I've never had a problem). Also makes for excellent dipping sauce for chicken.

• Olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, sherry, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

• Avocado (smashed), lime juice, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

• Sesame oil, miso paste, honey, grated ginger, minced garlic, pepper

The possibilities are endless. I try to make my salad and dressing a little different every time.

Salad dressings travel really easily in a plastic bag placed on top of a salad for a quick lunch.