Salad dressings
and sauces that are flavourful can bring healthy eating to a whole new level. They
make vegetables, lean meats, whole grain pastas and other foods taste better. Since
products bought at the store can be loaded with fat, calories and sodium,
learning to make your own sauce and salad dressing is important for healthy
cooking.
Cutting down on
oil while making a salad dressing is the first step. A homemade salad dressing
should contain more vinegar, lemon juice or orange juice than oil to keep
calories in check. One needs to adapt standard recipes, which usually require
less oil. Opting for flavour
over fat is the second step to making a salad dressing more appealing. When
making Salad Dressing Recipes, a person should vary the vinegars and oils to
keep the taste buds satisfied without adding a lot of extra fat. To do this one
can try using balsamic, sherry or apple cider vinegar and experiment with
olive, walnut, flax and sesame oils. With both dressings and sauces, fresh and
finely chopped herbs can be added to give a huge flavour boost as well as provide
healthy antioxidants.
When using
ingredients like sour cream, mayonnaise or yogurt in salad dressings and
Sauces, one must choose low-fat or non-fat versions to lessen the calories. Puree
roasted vegetables, such as roasted red peppers with a splash of broth to make
quick sauces. Skim off the fat
when making a meat-based sauce. Cool it in the refrigerator before using it to
separate the fat. The fat can then be skimmed from the top of the sauce (where
it will often harden) to dramatically reduce the fat content.
Instead of using
a butter-based roux to thicken a sauce, cut back on the fat by thickening it
with a small amount of corn-starch or flour. For creamy dressings and sauces,
silken tofu or pureed cashews and water can be used as the base.
Always have
containers of the homemade salad dressings and sauces available when it is needed.
A supply can be kept in the fridge for up to a week and many sauces can be
frozen. Don’t overuse the Salad Dressings or sauces. Just simply use them to add
moisture and flavour to fresh vegetables and cooked dishes.