So, then, you have decided to give your healthy eating habits an extra gear and you are on the path to well-being. You have brought more color to your plate by eating a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and are eating fresh salads with well-chosen toppings.
However, if you’re choking your healthy salads with store-bought salad dressings, slow down!
Bottled salad dressings are often highly processed and loaded with dangerous additives that taint a carefully prepared salad and detract from the best of intentions.
Even seemingly harmless “healthy” store-bought sauces and toppings fall short of consciously made DIY alternatives.
Here are some reasons to ditch bottled salad dressings in favor of homemade vinaigrettes:
1. Take care of what you eat (and its quality)
Most store-bought salad dressings, whether stored or refrigerated, contain harmful amounts of sodium and sugar, unnatural additives, bad fats, and excess calories, all of which should be avoided if you want to improve your health.
Excess Calories: A combination of the above factors will undoubtedly result in a higher overall calorie intake. Most of the time, the extra calories are useless and harmful and have no nutritional value.
In summary, avoid processed and packaged foods as much as possible to safeguard your health.
2. Indulge in the flavor of fresh foods
Before they arrive at your local supermarket, most, if not all, store-bought salad dressings are created, processed, bottled, stored, shipped, and stored again. After all has been said and done, who knows how long it has been since their ingredients were purchased?
Add more time (and possibly preservatives) for products from distant locations. What’s inside a beautiful facade has little chance of being fresh – and fresh is always better.
Even bottled vinaigrettes made with olive oil won’t have the same delicious and fragrant flavor as a bottle of good EVOO. (Marchesi Gallo extra virgin olive oil is bottled as soon as the olives are crushed at the mill.)
3. Learn how to make simple, sustainable and delicious homemade vinaigrettes.
Vinaigrettes made from scratch with just a few fresh items you probably already have on hand are an easy way to satisfy your requests for a tasty salad. To start, all you need is a bowl, a whisk, a sprinkle of olive oil and a dash of vinegar.
If you wish, you can add a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, a pinch of spices or herbs (fresh or dried) and a pinch of Dijon mustard. While the conventional rule of thumb is a 3: 1 ratio of olive oil to vinegar, we always recommend doing some taste tests to see what you like.
To enjoy all the taste at maximum freshness, prepare small batches that can be stored in airtight recyclable containers, such as glass jars. After all, you can always make another homemade vinaigrette in minutes!
In conclusion
Finally, to get the most out of your attempts to eat right, be aware of what you spill on your precious plate of vegetables. Store-bought salad dressings will harm your healthy salads. Make your own and you’ll be on your way to better health in no time.
It’s easy to enjoy your favorite salads with peace of mind when using homemade vinaigrettes.
