Rustic Salad Dressing (and Holiday Entrees & Sides)

Welcome back to our Gluten-Free Holiday Event ! This week Hallie is hosting over at Daily Bites. The theme is Holiday Entrees and Side Dishes.

Take your family’s favorite entrees and sides for Christmas and Hanukkah to Daily Bites where you’ll have a chance to win a copy of The Pure Kitchen, Hallie’s amazing cookbook. Don’t forget, you don’t even need a recipe to enter the giveaway! Just head over and leave a comment.

I am well known in dinner and lunch circles for my salads. I love bringing a beautiful, bright, and nutritionally packed salad to share with my friends and family.  It’s the perfect side dish for any meal.

I’ve been re-reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition and I am loving it! His latest book, Super Immunity: The Essential Nutrition Guide for Boosting Your Body’s Defenses to Live Longer, Stronger, and Disease Free is on my Christmas list.

Dr. Fuhrman has inspired me to pack even more nutritionally dense foods into my family at every meal. So a jam-packed salad is a perfect way to do it.  My kids aren’t big on salads yet so I just put a small serving on their plates and hope for the best (how do you get your kids to eat salads?).

Here’s what we love on our salads these days (next to an amazing dressing of course):

Roasted or raw beets (shredded if raw)

Chopped purple cabbage

Raw or roasted nuts and seeds

Avocado

Sprouts

Sun-dried tomatoes

A mix of greens: usually kale and romaine

Grated carrots or sweet potato

Cooked or sprouted beans

Roasted root vegetables

Leftover cooked quinoa

Craving a salad yet?

I created this salad dressing using my favorite soy-sauce or tamari substitute. Coconut Aminos is a delicious alternative for those of us who are sensitive or allergic to soy products. I buy mine online through Upaya Naturals.

I also included lots of apple cider vinegar after reading about the amazing health benefits at Cook It Allergy Free.

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free Rustic Dressing

2 cloves finely chopped or minced garlic

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

6 tbsp Coconut Aminos

1/8 tsp of stevia

6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine the garlic, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and Coconut Aminos in a glass jar. Stir in stevia and then taste. Add more stevia if you’d like a sweeter dressing. Add olive oil and stir until well combined. Season with sea salt or herbamare and freshly ground pepper.

Toss into salad and enjoy. This dressing will taste even better the next day.

This recipe is linked to Gluten-Free Holiday and Ricki’s Wellness Weekend.

Yield: Enough for one big salad

Now head over to Daily Bites to link up or join in the giveaway!

Get your breakfast and brunch recipes ready, because on December 8th Ricki from Diet, Dessert, and Dogs is hosting Holiday Breakfast & Brunch.