Recipe Redux -- Food in A Jar

I really don't understand this jar craze.  When I saw that the Recipe Redux theme this month was Raising the Bar on Food in a Jar I was completely stumped.  I spent many hours scouring websites for a recipe inspiration, wracked my brain, and made the ugliest no bake pie in a jar.  After all this I was seriously about to give up and not participate this month.

All of a sudden I realized something.  There IS something that I make in a jar all the time.  Salad dressing!  So today I bring you, my fat free vinaigrette.  It's sweet, it's simple, it's got a bit of tang from the vinegar.  It's perfect to brighten up a salad and just add a bit of flavor and moisture. This salad dressing has only 25 calories for the whole recipe!

Did you know that most salad dressings have over 5 grams of sugar per serving?  And even fat free salad dressings have about 50 calories in 2 tablespoons.  I love my salads but, I am heavy handed with  my salad dressings.  This salad dressing is perfect.   

Fat Free Sugar Free Sweet and Tangy Dressing
Calories:25
Fat: 0 g
Sodium: 37.5 g
Carbs: 12.0 g


Ingredients
.25 cup rice vinegar
2 T sugar free apricot preserves
1 T sugar free maple syrup
1 T minced garlic

Directions

1. Put all ingredients into a jar
2. Shake to mix

Simple, right?  It pairs well with any salad.  I actually really like it with a spinach salad topped with tuna.  

Do you make your own salad dressing?  What kind do you make?

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Excited About Salad

[Forward before I start my ranting: Since I am participating in National Nutrition Month I have to say that I am proud of people for whatever healthy lifestyle changes they decide to make.  This post is aimed at a select few.  If a salad is your first step toward a total healthy life change then I back you 100% but, one salad does not make up for eating artery clogging junk the other 20 meals out of the week]

See these texts?  I get these texts quite often.  A Greek salad can have upwards of 600 calories.  So, half a Greek salad would have the same calories as a normal lunch.  These types of texts do not get the reaction from the that the senders are expecting.

You want to know a secret?  I rarely, [I mean like 2 times a year rarely], eat a salad for lunch.  I'm more likely to eat a sweet potato or a huge bowl of popcorn for lunch. 

People need to change their way of thinking.  A turkey sandwich on whole-grain bread with lettuce, tomato, onions, and mustard is a very healthy meal also.  (As a future R.D. I recognize the fact that properly prepared meat can be part of a healthy diet.)

One salad for lunch does not instantly make you healthy!  I also know that personally, a salad does not fill me up unless it's loaded with vegetables and some sort of protein.  A "healthy y" salad to most people is a small bowl.  A salad that size would fill me up for about about an hour.  

A salad for me is in addition  to my regular meal.  It contains:

1/2 a head of Romaine Lettuce, or 4 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 - 1 whole onion
4-7 mushrooms
2-3 baby carrots (I hate carrots!)
1/4 cup fat free feta/shredded cheese
1 whole cucumber
1/4 cup imitation crab
1/4 cup corn
a few bunches of green onions

Other people's lunch salads:
3-5 iceberg lettuce leaves
1/2 a cucumber
2 mushrooms
2 baby carrots
full fat cheese


If you want me to be proud of you then tell me you chose a salad over a greasy burger, or that you ordered a non-fat, no whip latte at Starbucks, or you skipped your daily Starbuck's completely!  But, PLEASE don't tell me you "had a salad" because I will not give you praise.  

What are your feelings on salads?