Make Your Own Salad Dressings

I was driving back from the beach the other night and I tuned into NPR's The Splendid Table http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/.  They were talking about salad dressings, and how expensive most store bought dressings are; not to mention, how fattening!  I recently found an article that showed one popular store brand's Ranch Dressing to have 160 calories for two tablespoons.  We all know that two tablespoons of dressing is nothing!  Soooo, I decided to shop for a cruet and find some dressing recipes that looked good and reasonably healthy.

Most of the recipes here can be stored for a week in the refrigerator.  If you add the herbs when you serve, instead of when you make, you could probably store for longer.  Here are a few of my favorites to just whisk together:

Creamy Italian

1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. low fat mayo
1/2 c.buttermilk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 dried basil
two finely diced garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

whisk together and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator

Classic Vinaigrette

1/4 c. red or white wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced green onion
Fresh ground salt and pepper

Whisk and refrigerate for up to 3 days

Ranch Dressing

1/2 c Greek yogurt
1/3 c low fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons light mayo
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
1 finely chopped garlic
Fresh ground salt and pepper

whisk together and store

If you have a favorite homemade dressing, please share!