3 Easy, Healthy, Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes

If you made homemade salad dressing, would you add titanium dioxide or monosodium glutamate (MSG) to it? Um, no. But guess what? There’s a good chance you’re drizzling these two ingredients (plus many more) on your fresh spinach and sliced tomato salad without realizing it! Many seemingly benign bottled dressings include a laundry list of yuck ingredients including added sugar, unhealthy fats and gross preservatives, quickly turning your greens from a yay to a nay. The good news? It’s not hard to do good by your go-to salad. Homemade salad dressing can be not only simple, fast and easy to make but it can also add awesome nutritional value without sacrificing taste. Healthy fats help you absorb the fat soluble vitamins found in your salad and antioxidants from herbs and spices add anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory benefits to your fork. All my homemade salad dressings include both. Skip the fuss of finding the perfect store bought dressing and make your own. These are my top 3 homemade dressings and they’re surprisingly easy to make! 3 Easy, Healthy, Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes Keri’s Lemon Dressing: About 6 servings ½ cup extra virgin olive oil ¼ cup fresh lemon juice ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Kefir Avocado Dressing: About 5 servings ½ cup Kefir ⅓ avocado 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon ½ clove garlic, minced ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper Pomegranate Mint Dressing: About 6 servings 6 tablespoons 100% pomegranate juice 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped

3 Summer Cocktails You Need in Your Hand

Summer screams for a cold one at the ball game, a glass of rose al fresco and sexy summer cocktails on the rooftop. By this time in the season, you’ve probably found a cocktail in your hand more than once or twice (or multiply that by the number that makes sense for you) and you’re freaking about damage it’s doing to your beach bod. Don’t stress, gorgeous. You can have your summer cocktail and bikini bod too! Lemons and limes often get all the action when it comes to garnishing drinks, but it’s time to let some other fruits take center stage to lighten up your liquor. Grapefruit, raspberries, and pomegranates — step into the limelight! See how these summertime fruits can spruce up your favorite classic drinks. Cheers! 3 Summer Cocktails You Need in Your Hand: Grapefruit Mint Mojito Mojitos are one of my favorite drinks, and this grapefruit-mint version is a delicious twist on the classic. Mojitos get a bad rap for being rich in calories, thanks to the high sugar content. The key to keeping this drink delicious (and low sugar) is all in the muddle. Take the extra care to really grind up that mint to extract the most flavor possible. Bonus: the grapefruit pairing makes it burst with bold tartness and packs an antioxidant punch. Get the Recipe Raspberry Peach Strawberry Sangria Red wine is well-known for the cancer fighting antioxidant powerhouse resveratrol, but did you also know that this compound can help raise HDL (good) cholesterol? The extra vitamins and minerals from the fruit are just the raspberry on top of this yummy drink. Besides being excellent sources of vitamin C and fiber, research has revealed that raspberries contain a chemical called rheosmin, which has been found to boost fat metabolism. It’s safe to say we’ve found another bikini-friendly fruit. Get the Recipe Pomegranate Champagne Let’s be honest, any occasion is an occasion for champagne. To spruce up a simple flute of bubbly, look no further than the pomegranate. These little jewels may be small, but they are loaded with polyphenols which act as antioxidants. Just as a reminder, antioxidants fight free radicals to reduce the risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and signs of aging. Calories and alcohol have been cut down by the addition of club soda, so you can enjoy the celebration without all of the drinker’s regret. Get the Recipe