Raw Salad Dressings

Many animals survive almost completely on grass, and do not have the luxury of pouring dressing over it as they are grazing. Conversely, we as humans add MSG, artificial flavors, processed sugar and excess salt to our foods, often ignoring the harmful effects these flavor enhancers are having on our health. Personally I don't always feel the need for salad dressing when eating vegetables. That being said, I usually do prefer including dressing with my salads. If done right, I believe that salad dressings can be both delicious and healthy. 

One of my favorite raw salad dressings is simply cold pressed olive oil and a squeezed lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit.

Here is one great recipe I found (Link):

"I make this once a week and keep it in the fridge. I find that different families like different ratios of oil to vinegar. The classic ratio to two thirds oil to one third vinegar. Start there and tinker to taste. You can also use other vinegars and follow the same recipe.

"Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing"

1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of Apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of onion powder
2 tablespoon of whole grain mustard or djion type mustard
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of dried  basil
1 teaspoon salt"

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I'm also a fan of Bragg's oil free salad dressing, specifically their Braggberry and their Hawaiian dressings. They only contain organic fruit juices with organic apple cider vinegar. I called Bragg and they say that they do not pasteurize the below salad dressings, so they are considered raw.

Braggberry (Raw, organic, vegan according to Bragg)

Bragg Hawaiian Dressing (Raw, organic, vegan according to Bragg)

To make an extremely simple salad dressing, 2 excellent ingredients are raw (cold pressed) extra virgin olive oil (or walnut oil) and raw (unpasteurized) apple cider vinegar. For extra flavor, you can also try blending one or both the above ingredients with one or more of the following: Sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, hot peppers, raw honey, black pepper, a pinch of sea salt, carrot juice, fruit juice, ginger or garlic to taste. If you are on the go - another great option is simply squeezing citrus juice such as lemon, lime, orange and/or grapefruit over your salad!

Raw food author and speaker Paul Nison promotes raw apple cider vinegar as a salad dressing. Also, author and physician Dr. Mercola says apple cider vinegar makes "a delightful salad dressing" (Link).

Bragg raw apple cider vinegar 

Bragg raw olive oil.