Nonfat Gazpacho Dressing

Made this Nonfat Gazpacho Dressing for a side salad that went with last night's dinner: lasagna! The dressing has no fat but is super flavorful: tomato juice, a whole clove of garlic, basil, and dill stand out in this dressing.

Everything was blended up in the blender, but, as you can see, it was still a little chunky. Next time I'll blend it longer!

Vinaigrette

I made this Vinaigrette last night for a simple green salad. For years, I have purchased packets of dry seasonings to make vinaigrette. But after making this dressing, I am a true convert! It was so simple to gather the ingredients, add my favorite herbs and fresh garlic, and have delicious salad dressing!

It's likely that you already know how to make this. I feel like I'm the last person to know. Olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic, and salt. The rest is up to you! I put fresh thyme in this dressing and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  It all goes into a jar and then you shake it up.

Part of this complete breakf ... dinner!

Lowfat Creamy Garlic Dressing

Here's a sweet little recap of the salad dressing I made this week.  Lowfat Creamy Garlic Dressing was very simple, and I simplified it further by putting everything into a jar and shaking it up!

Buttermilk, sour cream, a little spoonful of minced onion, two crushed garlic cloves, salt, lemon juice, and black pepper went into this dressing.  I shook everything up in a Mason jar and ate it with a crisp English cucumber ... my favorite. I hope this dressing inspires some fresh salads in the near future!

I love buttermilk and am looking forward to using the rest of the carton for pancakes this week!

Zucchini Crusted Pizza and Lowfat Ranch Dressing

Zucchini Crusted Pizza
First, I shredded up lots of delicious zucchini:

Then I added cheese, eggs, and flour and baked it into a lovely crust:

Lastly, I topped the crust with fresh tomato slices, olives, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil:

And there you have it folks, Zucchini Crusted Pizza. One of my favorite Mooosewood recipes so far. I also made some Lowfat Ranch Dressing for carrot dipping (and pizza dipping, if you like to get real freaky):

The dressing was made from buttermilk, a touch of sour cream, dried onion, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. So much better than any bottled version you'd find in the grocery store!

Raw Vegetable Salad with Very Green Dressing

Mollie Katzen writes that "most vegetables can be eaten raw if cut properly... chewing is light and delightful and not a cumbersome chore. Visually, Raw Vegetable Salad can be beautiful, like edible confetti." This makes my heart sing. As someone who has a love/hate relationship with salad, I found that sticking to her instructions and cutting the vegetables smaller than I normally would made the salad much more enjoyable.

I made Very Green Dressing for the salad. It is an oil free dressing with many fresh herbs and a touch of buttermilk. The ingredients were whipped up in the food processor and spooned over the salad. While the dressing was a tad bitter, it was still tasty. I even dipped a little whole wheat pita bread in the dressing. Mmm!

Thai Salad and Whole Wheat Pitas

Last night Dianna and I made Thai Salad and Whole Wheat Pitas. It was a really good meal: filling, but not rich! The salad components were: romaine lettuce, carrot, bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, potato, hard boiled egg, tofu, fresh basil, and a lemon wedge. I had never had cooked potato in a green salad before and I really liked it! The dressing was peanut butter based with a little salt, honey, garlic, and spices in it. While it was a little too runny, it flavored the salad well.

The pitas ended up being a little crispier that anticipated, but totally delicious. Pita bread is one of those things I never really thought to make from scratch. But it was so stinkin' easy to do (yeast, water, honey, salt, flour) that I will make them myself instead of buying them at the grocery store from now on!

Additionally, check out these adorable Norwegian napkins we used with dinner. Dianna translated for us: "Welcome to our home." Perfect!