Hold the dressing? Not anymore!

I recently moved back to Florida from New York City and forgot how hot and humid summertime here can be (not that NYC is much better). When it’s hot outside, I tend to crave refreshing and cold foods—which means I eat a lot of salads and well, salad dressing. As a dietitian I feel compelled, even if you’ve heard it a thousand times, to tell you that salad dressing can easily make a healthy, nutritious meal into an unhealthy disaster. Certain restaurant salads can top out at 1200 calories. Often, the dressing is to blame for this exorbitant number.

So since I don’t want to nix all the wonders of my healthy, low-cal salads, I’ve found some salad dressings that we all can feel better about eating. Regardless of how you top your greens, remember not to drown your salad in dressing—calories and fat add up—but practice the dipping method instead (dip fork in dressing, take bite of salad).

Galeos World’s Best Miso, Ginger, & Wasabi Dressing: per 1 tbsp; Calories 14, Fat 1g, Sat fat 0.2g,Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 42mg, Carbs 0.7g, Fiber 0.5g, Sugars 0, Protein 0.5g

Right now, this is my go-to dressing. I’m a huge fan of Asian-inspired flavors and this one provides great flavor with a creamy texture all for 14 calories per tablespoon. Not a fan of spicy foods? Don’t be deceived by the ‘wasabi’ in the name, this dressing is not spicy. Galeos dressings are gluten free and come in a few varieties. Check out Whole Foods Market or their website for more info.

Bolthouse Farms Creamy Yogurt Dressing, Honey Mustard: per 2 tbsp; Calories 45,  Fat 2g, Sat fat 0.5g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 80mg, Carbs 7g, Fiber 0g, Sugars 6g, Protein 1g

A variety of salad dressings are now made with yogurt to replace much of the fat and calories found in other common bases such as mayonnaise and sour cream. Bolthouse Farms Creamy Yogurt Dressing tastes just as good as the regular version and comes in six other flavors such as Classic Ranch, Thousand Island (my childhood fave), and Creamy Italian.

Tonton Ginger Dressing: per 1 tbsp; Calories 20, Fat 1.5g, Sat fat 0g ,Cholesterol 0mg,Sodium 270mg, Carbs 2g, Fiber 0g, Sugars 1g, Protein 0g

A friend introduced me to this one-of-a-kind dressing that reminds me of a ginger dressing you’d find at a Japanese restaurant. It has a great, thick texture, thanks to pureed celery and onions, and it’s slightly on the sweeter side so a little goes a long way. Tonton Ginger dressing is not gluten free—it contains soy sauce made with wheat. It’s also great used as a marinade.

Which dressing in your cupboard is your favorite?

Comments (4)

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Tuesday July 6, 2010 Gayle wrote:

... Trader Joes makes a champagne pear gorgonzola dressing that is amazing and so flavorful that a little goes a long way.

Tuesday July 6, 2010 Joyce wrote:

... Walden Farms makes some amazing salad dressings. They are fat-free, sugar-free, and calorie-free. They also taste good! In fact, the ranch flavor tastes quite fattening!

Sunday July 11, 2010 Anthea wrote:

... Olde Cape Cod makes a line of low fat and fat free dressings that tastes great. I've tried four of the flavors and loved all of them. I even got my mom to switch to their fat free balsamic vinaigrette. She likes it better than anything else she's tried. They can be found at http://cainsfoods.elsstore.com...dressings/. I buy them at my local Walmart, and they're cheaper than most of the well known brands.

Sunday July 11, 2010 storm wrote:

... annies makes a lite honney mustard that is amazing

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