People on their way to Thinlandia should really learn to LOVE salads. Salads can be SO good for you with lots of fiber, roughage, and tons of nutrition. This is why so many people choose to “eat healthy” and grab a salad when they go to a restaurant. But unfortunately, restaurant salads are not always “diet-friendly!”
For example, let’s take a look at The Taco Bell Fiesta Taco Salad. Seems like a healthful option, right? Lettuce, tomatoes, beans? You tell me how “healthful” it is. Including the shell, it has 850 calories, 48 fat grams, and 80 carb grams. The Fiesta Taco Salad without shell has 500 calories, 26 fat grams, and 42 carb grams.
Taco Bell is not alone in packing salads full of high fat, high calorie items. This is why you see many folks on the road to Thinlandia packing a picnic lunch or eating at home!
I have found that being able to use a liberal amount of lovely-tasting salad dressing is very instrumental in how much I enjoy my salad. No matter how “healthy” it is, squirting a plain lemon over my salad and calling it a day is not enough for me. I need more taste! Texture! Personality! Volume, especially. I CAN dip my fork tines in the dressing if necessary, but I’d rather pour at least a quarter of a cup of flavorful dressing over the whole thing!
This Not-just-for-Dieters Honey Mustard Dressing is a great example of taste, simplicity, and complexity, and at 25-30 calories per tablespoon, you can afford to have more than just a taste! It has the added benefit of being very easy to make. It is especially easy to make if you opt for store-bought mayonnaise. Personally, I make my own mayonnaise to put into the dressing, because the sad fact is, the lower amount of fat and calories a company Kraft or Hellman’s put into their mayonnaise, the higher the sodium level! Consider the following nutritional information per tablespoon:
Kraft Fat Free – 10 calories,
Sodium 120 mg.
Kraft Reduced Fat Olive Oil –
45 calories, 4 fat grams, 95 mg sodium.
Kraft Real Mayo – 90 calories,
10 fat grams, 70 mg sodium.
Because of this unfortunate fact, I decided to start making my own mayonnaise especially for use in salad dressings. That recipe, which was originally published in the Eating Well Magazine, is at the end of this page. Try it – it’s not hard at all, and it tastes pretty good!
Although there are variations of Honey Mustard Dressing recipes all over the web, I slightly modified one I found at a popular recipe board. Thanks, Shirl!
Not-just-for-Dieters Honey Mustard Dressing
(made with Eating Well Mayonnaise)
1 recipe (approximately 1 cup) Eating Well Mayonnaise
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
(I just use French’s, the bright yellow kind)
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 – 1/4 cup water (or no water
at all if you want a much thicker dressing)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Mix ingredients together.
Eat and enjoy!
Note: To make a VERY yummy and EXTREMELY magical dip for pretzels, use just the first three ingredients. Mix together, sit back, and watch it disappear!
Contains approximately 25-30 calories per tablespoon of dressing, depending on how much water you put in it.
Eating Well Mayonnaise*
(*with a couple of Thinlandic adjustments to decrease the sodium, etc.)
According to Eating Well, it makes about 1 cup
(I found it to be closer to the 7/8 cup, so the calories are a little closer to 24/tablespoon)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon dry mustard (up to 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Also Salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3/4 cup buttermilk, divided
1 large egg
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon light olive oil
1. Whisk together cornstarch, mustard, sugar, salt and cayenne in a medium saucepan. Add 1/4 cup of the buttermilk and whisk until you have a smooth paste. Add egg and the remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk and whisk until smooth.
2. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook, whisking, until the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens. Continue to whisk for 15 seconds, then remove the pan from the heat.
3. Whisk in lemon juice and oil.
Transfer the mayonnaise to a small bowl. (If you have trouble with a ‘skin’ forming on the top, you may press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.)
4. Let cool.
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per tablespoon: 21 calories; 1 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 14 mg cholesterol; 1 g carbohydrate; 1 g protein; 0 g fiber; 45 mg sodium; 24 mg potassium.
0 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1/2 fat
Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Stir before using.
Perfect layout! How did you get it?