by Stacey Torres

Created on: January 10, 2010

At the beginning of this new year, many of us are on our annual quest for healthy living and weight loss. As usual, I am right there in the pack, but I have put more on my agenda this time. I'm concerned about my heart health and cholesterol levels, and felt I should add more olive oil to the mix to boost my Omega-3s.

Yesterday, while shopping at a local warehouse supermarket, I decided to buy some extra virgin olive oil and some vinaigrettes also made with olive oil. These were bottled beautifully in very beautiful upscale carafes and jars, and the oils were infused with herbs, flowers and assorted healthy looking (weeds) botanicals. I grabbed one that looked promising. It was an Asian Vinaigrette, with sesame seeds and ginger root floating about in the dark amber liquid.

My instinct told me to read the label, because Asian often meant peanut oil. Low and behold, it was not even peanut oil, but soybean oil. I grabbed the raspberry and pomegranate blend; the same thing - soybean oil. And shame of all shame, the Mediterranean dressing that had three types of olives, mind you, along with garlic, onion and some delicate basil, was primarily soybean oil. Not a drop of olive oil, unless I was willing to try and press what I could out of the six olives floating in the jar.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own. Homemade salad dressing is not rocket science, and it can be whatever you want to make it. You really cannot mess up.

Indonesian Peanut Dressing

6 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
1 and 1/4 cups cold water
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 fresh red chili, chopped fine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

In a small bowl, cream the peanut butter and the water until it is slightly soupy. Add the rest of the ingredients and chill for one hour before serving.

Aniseed & Orange Dressing

1-1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons frozen orange juice (no pulp) concentrate, thawed
2 tablespoons aniseed
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon honey
Place the olive oil, vinegar, orange juice concentrate and aniseed in a food processor, and grind until the seeds are finely chopped (almost powder). Strain dressing into a bowl, pressing the seeds hard with a pestle or the back of a spoon, to juice all of their flavor. Throw away the remaining seeds and using a wire whisk, whip in the honey and orange zest. Add sea salt and cracked black pepper for seasoning.

Cretan Salad Dressing

3/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp fresh oregano

1 tsp fresh mint, chopped
sea salt and pepper
Mix all of the ingredients, and sprinkle liberally over a green or fresh pepper salad.

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