Chia Apple Cider Vinaigrette (Oil Free)

What is one of the biggest diet changes you see people make when trying to eat healthier?  I see it all the time, people opting to eat more salads.  Weather it be bringing salad from home or swapping out the fast food burger and fries for a fast food salad.  Unfortunately you may not be eating as healthy as you thought you were.  Salad dressings can add loads of calories to those greens and some restaurant salads can have more calories than their non green menu options.  Making your own salad dressing is one of the best things you can do when following a real food, organic lifestyle.  Even the dressings labeled low fat can have tons of  chemicals, sugars, and processed additives.

Kraft’s Light Done Right Ranch for example contains:

water, corn syrup, soybean oil, vinegar, egg yolks, modified food starch, salt, sugar, contains less than 2% of garlic juice, monosodium glutamate, phosphoric acid, xanthan

Vinaigrette dressing ingredients are not any better…

Wishbone Light Italian Salad Dressing contains:

WATER, DISTILLED VINEGAR, SOYBEAN AND CANOLA OILS, SUGAR, SALT, GARLIC*, ONION*, XANTHAN GUM, RED BELL PEPPERS*, SPICES, SORBIC ACID AND CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (USED TO PROTECT QUALITY), DL ALPHA TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E), CARAMEL COLOR, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, REB A (NATURAL STEVIA LEAF SWEETENER), MALTODEXTRIN (CORN), MODIFIED CORN STARCH. *DEHYDRATED

This dressing is a great option because you get bold flavor from a vinegar base while the chia seeds act as the emulsifier and thickener instead of oil.  This is the same process used in my Chia Jam.  This gives you more room to add some other great healthy fats to a salad such as nuts, seeds or avocados.  Plus the chia seeds are also a great source of healthy omega 3 fatty acids.  Remember the right oils can be healthy but weight control is ultimately about calories.  If you take in more calories than you are burning then you will store those calories as fat.  I am not a fan of calorie counting only nourishing myself with healthy, unprocessed, real foods.

Print

Course Condiments and Spreads

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 4 -8

Author Sara

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Onion or 1 small Shallot
• 2 Tbsp Coconut Sugar or Raw Honey
• 2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/4 C Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3/4 C Water
• 1 1/2-2 Tbsp Chia Seeds depending on how thick or thin you like your dressing
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Mix everything into a blender.
2. Pour into a jar and refrigerate overnight to let the chia seeds thicken the dressing.