Posts Tagged ‘homemade salad dressing’

Senior Kitchen Empowerment Progress and Fresh 5-Ingredient Nonfat Yogurt Salad Dressing

Senior Empowerment Progress and Fresh 5-Ingredient Nonfat Yogurt Salad DressingI’ve mentioned before here that I’ve started working with AARP and Eastway Rec. in Charlotte, NC, to provide skills to senior citizens, like me, so that they can empower themselves in the kitchen and make quality of life/life-promoting foods on their own. We’ve only had 5 sessions together, but we’ve already max’d out attendence and gotten positive feedback from those participating that they’re actually using the demo recipes and techniques at home. That’s where the rubber hits the road!

Here’s one of the recipes we worked on last Thursday: Fresh 5-Ingredient Nonfat Yogurt Salad Dressing, which is an easy way to change the flavor and calorie content of the fresh 5-ingredient salad dressing shown in the previous article: Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing.

Fresh 5-Ingredient Nonfat Yogurt Salad Dressing All you have to do is replace oil with nonfat yogurt. See the nonfat plain Greek yogurt to oil nutrition fact label comparison below and note that a serving of nonfat plain Greek yogurt is 1 cup (8 ounces) while a serving of oil is 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce). That means that 1 cup (8 ounces) of oil contains 1920 calories and 224 grams of fat as compared to the cup (8 ounces) of nonfat yogurt shown below containing 130 calories and 0 grams of fat.

Nonfat Yogurt to Oil Nutrition Comparison

Here are the ingredients needed to make this dressing. Though any nonfat plain yogurt will work to make this dressing, I like using nonfat plain Greek yogurt for this dressing for its high protein content, thick texture, and rich flavor.

Fresh 5-Ingredient Nonfat Yogurt Salad Dressing IngredientsClick any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

Fresh 5-Ingredient Nonfat Yogurt Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Easy Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

About a month ago, I posted this extremely easy-to-make Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing that’s so versatile, it goes great, of course, on salads, but also on pasta, rice, sandwiches, cooked vegetables – imagination is your only limit.

This post is about how to make that dressing fresh-er just by substituting garlic powder with fresh garlic. 

I’m a big fan of fresh garlic for its rich, bold flavor – and its broad spectrum health benefits that include: improved immune system, lowered blood pressure and cholesterol, cancer prevention, improved athletic performance – and more (for more details in short, easy-to-read form, click this Spice World link).

Two quick practical tips about fresh garlic. First, choose fresh garlic bulbs, like the one shown below, that are firm to a hand squeeze, heavier in weight (more water content) and show no signs of dark grey mold under the skin or green shoots growing out of the bulb.

Second, to make peeling the garlic skin easy, which is the least fun part about dealing with fresh garlic, first crunch the individual garlic cloves with a forceful press and satisfying garlic skin pop using the side of a wide-bladed chef’s knife, as shown here.

Once you chop the fresh garlic, as shown briefly below, the rest is all down hill. Just add mustard, ground black pepper, vinegar and yogurt.

Peeling the skin off a fresh garlic clove, then slicing and chopping that fresh garlic clove

You can see all the above – and more – by clicking this link for the complete Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing picture book recipe.

Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Last post mentioned work I’ve just started with AARP (American Association of Retired People) and Eastway Rec. Center in Charlotte, NC, to help senior citizens empower themselves in the kitchen to make life-promoting foods.

The first recipe we made together was the Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing shown below, which is just as incredibly versatile as it is easy to make.

First, a quick back story. The first time I ever made this recipe was with a group of fellow veterans who were turning their lives around through Veterans Incorporated (Vets Inc.) in Shrewsbury, MA. One of the guys in the group, a fellow Navy veteran – and terrific character, chimed in when I listed the seven ingredients I intended to use: garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper, mustard, honey, vinegar and oil.

“Why do we need the added salt and sugar? A lot of guys here have diabetes and/or high blood pressure. We don’t need that _____(4-letter word for “stuff”)!”

I get blunt beautifully and had to agree about the added salt and sugar. But this was the first recipe I was rolling out with these guys and first time I’d ever met them. My inner thought: “Fine, I’ll cut the salt and honey – but, boy, this dressing’s gonna’ taste like crap.”

I quickly made the dressing and asked the guys to taste a spoon of it full-on before I tasted it myself. The stunner? They loved it – and so did I.

Not only does this dressing taste great (most important), but it’s also incredibly versatile. As shown in the few sample pictures below, it goes great on any kind of warm or cold salad, over cooked vegetables, meat, chicken, fish, pasta, rice – imagination is your only limit.

Here are the ingredients needed to make this salad dressing. You’ll actually see six ingredients below because I often use two different types of vinegars for added flavor, which you certainly don’t have to do.

Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete step-by-step picture recipe that includes information about the sourness of different vinegars and why this recipe is considered low in both salt and sugar.

How to Use Easy-To-Make 5-Ingredient Fresh Salad Dressings Examples

Two recent posts showed how to make an Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing and a Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing. The only difference between the two: the instant dressing uses garlic powder to avoid any cutting or chopping; the fresh dressing just substitutes garlic powder with fresh garlic – and shows how to chop that garlic as easily as possible with picture book directions.

Regarding how to use the dressing, of course, either dressing goes great on any savory or sweet and savory salad, like the ones shown below – with picture book recipe links: Peach, Avocado & Baby Pepper Salad (top middle), Fresh Spinach and Berry Salad (bottom right), and Heirloom Tomato with Fresh Basil and Feta Cheese Salad (bottom left).

But, then here are just a few examples of how I used either dressing with dishes I’ve put together on the fly like: Pan Fried Chicken, Tomatoes and Parmesan Cheese (top left), Beans and Cheese with Fresh Tomato Onion Salad (top right), and Open Face Grilled Cheese and Tomato Pepper Salad (bottom middle).

Bottom line: your imagination is your only limit to how you use either dressing – or any dressing. For another example, here’s something I just had: Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Pancake topped with tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and fresh salad dressing. Yes, all easy and fun to put together – more about that pancake pretty soon – and all always with a keen eye on full-on flavor!

Change We Can Manage: Food, Body, Mind Plus Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing

I don’t think you’ll find a person on the planet who would agree that our current state of affairs points to a positive future in any sense. Instead, I’ve heard more people than I can count say they hope the extreme nature of what we experience daily – across the board – will finally force positive change.

Hope, no matter how passionately felt and expressed, won’t do it. Action is the only way forward. And that action, at it’s most basic yet most powerful level, starts with what we eat, moving our bodies and how we think. Food, body, mind: three simple words that make a world of difference to both our personal quality of life and to the world as a whole.

For now, right here, just planting the seed of personally managed change is enough. I’ll follow up – always briefly.

Regarding simplicity in an entirely practical sense, how ’bout something easy and fresh to make that both tastes great and is extremely versatile: fresh 5-ingredient salad dressing, which goes great, of course, on any kind of savory raw or cooked vegetables, over pasta, rice, fish, chicken or meat, on sandwiches – imagination is your only limit.

Here’s all you need to make this dressing (yes, you’ll see six ingredients below because I used two vinegars – all about flavor!).

Click this link or any picture on this page for complete, easy to use step-by-step picture book directions that show you how to make this dressing.

Enabling Empowerment Vs. Covid-19 and Enabling Kitchen Self-Sufficiency with an Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing

Covid-19 statistics and how to make an instant 5-ingredient salad dressing 

You are the only person who can empower yourself. You can, however, get and find the needed help to enable your empowerment.

Regarding Covid-19 and seasonal flu and their effect to date – and the numbers are sobering, first, the seasonal flu; Global Research reported on Feb. 22, 2020, that “The common flu causes up to 5 million cases of severe illness worldwide and kills up to 650,000 people every year, according to the World Health Organization .”

In the US alone, here’s an image from the CDC showing 2019-2020 US-only seasonal flu statistics through the end of March 2020.

CDC 2019-2020 US Seasonal Flu Impact

Staggering!

Now, Covid-19; As of yesterday, April 6, 2020, according to the WHO, there have been 1,210,956 reported cases and 67,594 deaths related to Covid-19 globally. According to the CDC, again as of yesterday, there have been 330,981 reported cases and 8,910 deaths related to Covid-19 just in the United States.

The big problem with Covid-19 is that it is new, hence the name Novel (new) Coronavirus 2019-nCoV, and that means that avoiding the disease can only be accomplished by following all but the first of the WHO-published five easy steps to avoid the flu:

  • getting vaccinated (Only about 4 in 10 US adults get vaccinated. I’ve not been vaccinated in years. I will start getting vaccinated next season – and document it here.)
  • frequent handwashing
  • avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth
  • avoiding being around sick people
  • staying home if you are sick to prevent contamination to others

These are all common sense steps to take, and following each can help empower us to cope with all strains of the flu with less fear.

That said, let’s switch gears to help empower better eating, which always improves a brighter outlook, with a quick, easy, richly flavorful and incredibly versatile recipe that you can make no matter how little cooking experience you have. The instant 5-ingredient salad dressing you see here  goes great, of course, on warm or cold salads but is also a go-to for me on sandwiches, with cooked grains, over pasta, and much more. 

how to make a 5-ingredient instant salad dressing

As shown in the picture below (yes, I did use 2 vinegars for added flavor that count as only one ingredient), the only five ingredients you need are garlic powder, black pepper, mustard, vinegar and oil. For equipment, all you need is a 16-ounce jar with a snug fitting lid (if you don’t have a jar, you can use a measuring cup instead).

how to make an instant 5-ingredient salad dressingClick this link or any salad dressing related picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

how to make an instant 5-ingredient salad dressing

Anti-Inflammatory Fresh Ginger Cilantro Kefir Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Fresh Ginger Cilantro Kefir Salad Dressing

If you’re an athlete or physically active at all, you know how inflammation exhibited in joint or muscle pain inhibits how you move your body. Inflammation is also a key contributor to diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and much more.
The very easy to make, fully-flavorful fresh low fat salad dressing you see here goes great on any salad as shown below – or anything savory – and contains kefir (a good bacteria, yogurt-like fermented milk drink), fresh garlic, fresh ginger, fresh cilantro, ground turmeric, mustard, apple cider vinegar, ground black pepper, and honey – all of which are rich with anti-inflammatory benefits.

Fresh Ginger Cilantro Kefir Salad Dressing on Vegetable Tortilla Read more »

How Learning and Adapting Applies to Cycling and Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing

 

It’s all about applied learning and adapting.

First, regarding cycling. Since becoming the Ops Officer at VOmax (performance sportswear) and driving to and from Northampton everyday, I’ve had to adapt to splitting time between rippin’ it on the real road, which I love, and crankin’ it on the “living room bike” (trainer), which no matter how hard I pedal never gets me to the kitchen.

Read more »

Fresh Banana Cilantro Dressing Picture Book Recipe

fresh-banana-cilantro-dressingYep, you bet! Bananas and cilantro together in a dressing – and it goes great on salads, over cooked vegetables – any way you’d use any other dressing.

The hardest part of making this dressing is peeling the skins off fresh garlic cloves – always a pain, though crushing the cloves first by pressing them under the side of a wide-bladed (chef’s) knife as shown here…

crushing-garlic-sequence Read more »

Fresh Garlic Ginger Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Fresh Garlic Ginger Salad Dressing

Not too long ago, I showed how to grate or chop fresh ginger and then how to make a fresh low-fat kefir salad dressing packed not only with full-on flavor but also packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients that included ground turmeric, mustard, apple cider vinegar, ground flaxseeds, ground black pepper, and honey. Great stuff!

The fresh garlic ginger salad dressing you see here is a little twist on the fresh low-fat kefir salad dressing in that it substitutes kefir (a fermented milk, yogurt-like drink that’s packed with beneficial – or good for you – bacteria) with olive oil and also adds freshly chopped cilantro.

Here are the ingredients you need to make fresh garlic ginger salad dressing.

Fresh Garlic Ginger Salad Dressing IngredientsClick any picture on this page for a complete, easy-to-follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

Fresh Garlic Ginger Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

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