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Salad dressings

Depends on your preference. And test your bloods if you can to see what works for you.

If you're filling up on salad then I personally wouldn't worry too much about the dressing. Unless you're adding a pint of it :)

Aside from the regular dressings you can grab. Some good options to add / mix to salad include:
* vinegar (Balsamic is lovely). And the acetic acid may help with blood glucose.
* A tablespoon of ground Flaxseed / Linseed (nice nutty flavor & full of fibre to boot)
* A couple tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast (Nooch). Nice cheesy flavor and good for you.
* Black pepper
* Hummus
* Kimchee
* Pickled onion (or pickled chillis)
* Olives (even better with chilli and garlic)
* a sprinkle of Nigella seeds

I find a couple of the above means I don't need any other dressings.
 
Most of them have rapeseed oil and sugar in them. . It’s dead easy to make if you have an immersion blender and you know what’s in it.
In a jar put:
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk
1 tsp Dijon mustard (or more if you prefer)
1 tablsp lemon juice
salt to taste
180 mls light and mild olive oil
- the order you put the ingredients in the jar is important.

Put your blender in the mixture and pulse, you’ll get little ‘clouds’ appear. Keep pulsing until the mixture is nearly all combined, then keeping the blender on full thoroughly mix until thick. The mixture will seem a bit runny but will thicken up when it’s been in the fridge for an hour. Mine is never as thick as the bought stuff but it hasn’t got any binding agents in it
 
For oil dressing your only limit is your imagination, I’ve made one this morning for tonight’s dinner - I like to make them in advance so the flavours mellow and combine, use an empty jar then all you need to do is shake and store, a couple of tablespoons avocado oil, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, some very finely chopped fresh mint, 1 crushed strawberry pushed through a small sieve or tea strainer, seasoning - give a really good shake to emulsify it and pour on the salad and toss.

I’ve made a roast veg salad for tonight, the strawberry gives it a lovely sweet flavour. The dressing will store for about 3 days in the fridge just give a good shake before using. Salads don’t really need a lot of dressing just enough to coat.

Oils you can use
Avocado oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Walnut oil
Sesame seed oil - great in Asian style salads especially with cabbage

Acidity part,
you can use lemon or lime but I prefer vinegars as citrus can be a bit bitter
White wine vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Red wine vinegar

Flavourings
Mustard
Harissa paste
Garlic paste
Any finely chopped herb or dried herbs
Chilli
Crushed berry- just a little - strawberry and raspberry are particularly nice

Also Greek yogourt thinned down with a bit of cream with finely chopped mint and grated cucumber is lovely, I also make this sometimes with a bit of harissa paste too.

Any dressing made for salad is also fantastic on warm veg instead of butter
 
My favourite simple dressing is balsamic vinegar with a little olive oil and black pepper.
Most prepared mayonnaises have sugar in them, which I've never liked. Delouis Mayonnaise is sugar free if you don't want to make your own.
 
TriciaWs said:
My favourite simple dressing is balsamic vinegar with a little olive oil and black pepper.
Most prepared mayonnaises have sugar in them, which I've never liked. Delouis Mayonnaise is sugar free if you don't want to make your own.
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Balsamic vinegar has sugar in it too unfortunately, some just a little and some a lot so best to check labels as always
 
Good quality mayo (i.e. homemade) is my preference, but I can't often be faffed with making it, so... I default to extra virgin olive oil: with fresh herbs, or crushed garlic and chilli or toasted sesame seeds or just on its own :)
 
Allegedly, Hellmans mayonnaise doesn't contain starches or sugars, but do correct me if I'm mistaken. Home-made is best, but quite a lot of work.

I used olive oil as a salad dressing until my BG reduced to non-diabetic levels, then introduced a small amount of cider vinegar without causing any BG reaction. Now I add it to soups etc. as I don't use much and the taste is out of all proportion to the small amount. It's worth a try for you as well, but do test.
 
Outlier said:
Allegedly, Hellmans mayonnaise doesn't contain starches or sugars, but do correct me if I'm mistaken. Home-made is best, but quite a lot of work.

I used olive oil as a salad dressing until my BG reduced to non-diabetic levels, then introduced a small amount of cider vinegar without causing any BG reaction. Now I add it to soups etc. as I don't use much and the taste is out of all proportion to the small amount. It's worth a try for you as well, but do test.
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Hellmans real mayonnaise has a tiny bit of sugar but for me it’s very negligible at 1.3 per 100g, I use it for mixing and dips and I have no problem with it. I agree homemade is best but it’s not so much the work for me as the mess, can’t be bothered lol
 
Musiecat said:
Hi what's best mayonnaise or salad dressing many thanks
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To avoid seed oils which most mayo’s contain you get a choice. 1) make your own dressing

2) find a brand which uses avocado oil. - there are plenty out there watch for the ones that only use adocado oil. A lot of them mix in the seed oil as it’s cheaper.

It is more expensive but it tastes great !!!
 
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