For a while I've been LOVING homemade dressing. I'm really making an effort to cut out all the additives and preservatives and bottled dressing really has a lot of fillers and I find it actually covers up all the flavors of the yummy veggies in salads. It sounds like kind of a pain to make, but really, it isn't, and it is completely worth it.

Mine usually have 3 major components - some type of oil, some type of vinegar and "other" stuff.

Oil - I usually use olive oil, but want to get into others that you don't cook with (low smoke points) that are healthy. I use 1 - 2 teaspoons per serving that I'm making.

Vinegar - my "go tos" are balsamic, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar and sherry vinegar (what I have in my pantry). I use maybe 1 to 1 1/2 T.

Other stuff - lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey mustard, herbs/seasonings.

I realize that according to the E2 diet I'm currently following, oil is a no no (too high in fat per serving) and according to the Crazy Sexy Diet, vinegar is a no no because it raises the acidity (and thereby inflammation levels) in your body but I'm not at the point that I'm ready to be blending silken tofu for my dressings, I have this stuff in my pantry already, and I think I'm making strides in cutting down on processed and fake food in my diet, so I'm ok with it. Plus, it makes eating healthy freggie-ful salads DELICIOUS so I've made peace with the deviation. Maybe I'll go more hard core down the road, maybe not.

So I whisk up an oil, a vinegar and multiple "other stuffs" in a bowl and you are set. I put my salad in a WAY oversized bowl, drizzle the dressing over it and toss so everything is coated. SO yummy.

Here are a few combos that are common for me. I plan to branch out into more oils and vinegars but haven't just yet.

Greek: olive oil, balsamic, oregano, dill, pinch of salt (totally optional)

Dijon: olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, pinch of sugar, pinch of salt

Honey mustard: olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey mustard, lemon juice