Today, I want to share my favorite quick and easy dressing, for when I want a delicious salad in a hurry.
Simple Oil-Free Dressing
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons stone-ground mustard (or Dijon)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or to taste)
Instructions
- Whisk the ingredients together, and pour over your favorite salad!
Nutrition
Per Serving (2 tablespoons): Calories: 35, Fat: 1g, Carbohydrates: 9g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 1g
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Now, you may be thinking, “Why would I want an oil-free dressing? Olive oil is a healthy fat.”
And you’d be right. It is a healthy fat!!
However, when you plan on enjoying a salad with toppings like goat cheese, avocados, or nuts, you’re already getting a dose of fat! Pouring a fat on top of another fat, just makes the whole digestive process more complicated.
Limiting your fat-intake to one type of fat per meal is a helpful tool if you want to lose weight, or simply want to feel better after meals! Anytime you help your digestive system out, you should feel better because of it! (and it may be a good boost for your immune system, too! Remember– 70% of our immune system is housed in our digestive tract! [source])
So next time you eat a salad, try it out and let me know how you feel!
Your dressing looks fresh and perfect for spring. I need to get one of those citrus juicers. Your photos from the wedding look beautiful so far. Have a great night and catch up on your sleep.
I have a hard time with figuring out salad dressings, mostly because I am so fussy.
I don’t like mustard.
I don’t like tahini.
I don’t like yogurt.
The only fat I really put on a salad is EVOO and avocado, but I am encouraged by my nutritionist to eat as much HEALTHY fat as I want. Yes please!
Motivated by a desire to rid myself of fungus, I have cut sugars (including natural), grains & starches from my diet. It’s really hard to find salad dressing that doesn’t contain one or more of these. Out of necessity, I came up with the following, which I love. Coats the salad beautifully (I toss in a covered bowl), really allows the flavors of the salad to shine and is super easy. Add ~ 1 Tbsp. EVOO to ~ 2 Tbsp. pickle juice (I use juice from pickles that do not contain sugar but if you don’t mind sugar, any pickle will do). Shake and immediately pour onto salad. Hot or spicy pickles add an extra kick – sometimes I put a little of each juice. I hope you like it.
how cute!! Love that he had a bow-tie!
This dressing sounds awesome I love mustard and lemon so I cant imagine it not being delicious!
that dressing sounds awesome!!
I sometimes just use lemon juice as my dressing when I have tons of salad “toppers”.
That is so cute about the dog ring bearer. How sweet!
Have you ever tried salsa as a salad dressing? I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner! It’s neutral and tastes great with either cheese or avocado. Duh!
awesome dressing idea!!! I will have to make sure and write that one down!!!
Quick question about the Stevia in this lemon dressing… I live in France and my Stevia options are sort of questionable. So instead I try and stick to something that I can translate (and recognize!)– honey.
Would this dressing work with lemon + dijon + honey (instead of Stevia)?
Thanks so much!
I LOVE your blog.
Thanks, Jules! Yes, the honey will definitely work!
HI,
I am new here. And, now I am a little hopeful. Here’s what I am up against. All in the last several/few years, I have become intolerant to:
1. Garlic and onions…my all time favorite food was garlic
2. Milk… the doctor said to get over it,it happens!
3. Fat… especially oils (soybean, canola, cheese…olive oil) really think I need to have my gallbladder out..but in the meantime…
4. Tomatoes give me those little cankersores on my tongue
What do you think is going on?
I can eat bbq burgers without too much fat..up to a point…and basically plain chicken and veggies and its all okay and healthy, but its not fun to go out to eat with my friends and family. They freak out.
Can you tell me about Stevia? Is it really safe? What is it?
Thank you,
KatyB
Hi Katy! I’m sorry to hear about the intolerances! Lactose intolerance is very common, but since I’m not a doctor, I couldn’t begin to tell you what’s going on with everything else! In my own personal experience, I’ve had periods of intolerance with foods I’ve eaten too much of for an extended period of time– for instance, after eating avocados daily for a few months, my tongue and throat would itch after eating them! I was devastated, because I enjoyed them often, but after avoiding them for a couple months, I was able to tolerate them again. I’m not sure if that will be the case for you, but perhaps there’s hope. 😉
Regarding stevia, it is simply a plant with very sweet leaves! It’s a great natural sweetener that has zero calories and zero impact on blood sugar. I only recommend using 100% pure stevia, either NuNaturals or KAL brands, as other companies add fillers to their “stevia” products that I don’t endorse. As far as I know, it’s safe and has been used for quite some time by other cultures before being introduced to the USA. Hope that helps!
Hi Megan! Have you doubled or tripled this recipe before and stored in the fridge? I’m wondering how long it will keep in the fridge…
Yes, I double this recipe all the time! I go through this stuff so fast, it usually only lasts a day or two in my fridge before I use it up… but I think it should last up to 4 days in the fridge with no problem!
Hi Megan! Love the site—-recommended by a friend b/c I am allergic to yeast and stick to a diet to try and rid my body of excess Candida. Question about this dressing……we are encouraged not to have anything with vinegar in it for this lifestyle of mine (and really no sweets but I think Stevia would be fine). Is there anything I can sub for the mustard by chance? I cannot have dairy, vinegar, sugar, yeast…..pretty much anything that’s good! And I have to follow a food combining regimen constantly so I wish I could enjoy your recipes, but looks like a lot of it combines proteins with starches or fruits with things that I can’t do 🙁 Ugh!! Love the site though!!!! 🙂
Most of my recipes, with a few exceptions for treats, are properly combined– so they don’t mix proteins with starches or fruits. Be sure to check out my Candida Cleansing recipe section for more ideas!
This looks great! I understand what you mean about the “fat on top of fat” thing.
Lately I have just been using homemade guacamole as my salad dressing. The lime juice in the guac provides enough acidity and if I am going to be taking in the healthy fat from the avovados I may as well use it as my dressing too!
I love this dressing!