Find salads a bit dull and boring?! A delicious healthy salad dressing can make all the difference to your meal. It also adds flavour and extra nutrition to your salad! Here are some of the wonderful ingredients I use in my dressings: 

Citrus fruits: Lemon, lime and orange all work well on their own or are perfect as part of a mixed dressing. Rich in vitamin C they are great for your skin, keep your immune system strong and help absorb any iron from other ingredients you might have in your salad which have iron in them! 

Vinegar: I love them all – balsamic, white wine, red wine, apple cider – they all have their place. 

Oils: Small amounts of healthy fat helps the absorption of vitamins found in salad ingredients.  A little can go a long way too. A traditional balsamic dressing is often 50% oil and 50% vinegar – for me though, I use 25% oil and 75% vinegar and it is still perfect. I am a big fan of extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, cold pressed flaxseed oil and other nut based oils in my dressings. The trick with oil is to use the best quality you can afford and keep it in a cool dark place to keep it fresh. 

Other additions I love: Chilli, wasabi, mayo (I always water it down and make a little go a long way), tahini, yoghurt, mustard, fresh herbs, black pepper and lots of it!

Now – let’s put this into action, here are some of my all-time favourite dressing recipes: 

Sesame dressing

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 1 tbsp of neutral flavoured oil (such as canola, I used extra virgin)

• 2 tsp sesame oil

• 2 tbsp vinegar (I use sushi vinegar but cider or white is fine)

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

• 1 crushed clove of garlic

• 1 tbsp sugar dissolved in 3 tbsp water

How to make:

Pop all the ingredients into a mini blender or if you don’t have one – crush the sesame seeds in a pestle and mortar and then add all the ingredients to a jam jar and shake away! Ideal with coleslaw or on stir fried Asian greens. 

Tahini dressing

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

• ½ cup natural unsweetened yogurt

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 1 small clove garlic – crushed

• Squeeze of lemon juice

• Salt/pepper to taste

How to make:

Mix everything together in a jug or clean jam jar. For a thinner consistency add a little water or be sure to buy a yoghurt which has more of a pouring consistency. Delicious with a chicken or chickpeas salad. 

Wasabi mayo

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 2 tbsp of lite mayo

• Large squeeze wasabi paste

• 2-3 tbsp boiling water

How to make:

Mix together and serve! Great on coleslaw, perfect with a salad which you plan to serve with fish – especially salmon. 

Lemon/mustard dressing (serves 4-6)

•        Juice of 1 big or 2 small lemons

•        2 tbsp olive oil

•        Lemon zest 1 lemon

•        1 tbsp honey

•        2 tbsp white wine vinegar

•        1 tbsp Dijon mustard

•        Pepper/salt

Mix all ingredients together in a small jug. This is perfect with my edamame and chickpea salad!