Mixed Green Recipes with Herbed Balsamic Vinaigrette

By | January 28, 2009

Mixed Green Salad Dressings With Healthy Ingredients

Mixed Green Recipe Ingredients:

1 pound mixed greens, lettuce
¾ cup kalamata olives, pitted
4 plum tomatoes, sliced
¼ cup chives
1 medium size cucumber
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 medium garlic cloves
2 tablespoon fresh oregano
A dash of freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin

Method:

  1. For Herbed balsamic vinaigrette: Combine balsamic vinegar along with fresh oregano leaves, peeled garlic cloves, and olive oil in a blender or a food processor. Cover the lid and blend or process for 2 minutes or till all the ingredients are mixed well. Sprinkle a dash of freshly ground black pepper to taste. This recipe makes 2/3 cup of herbed balsamic vinaigrette.
  2. For mixed green salad: Toss the salad greens, pitted kalamata olives, plum tomatoes, chives and cucumber in a large bowl. Drizzle the fresh vegetables with herbed balsamic vinaigrette and toss well to coat. This recipe makes about 14 servings.

Health Tip:

  • Mixed greens with herbed balsamic vinaigrette is an easy low calorie recipe which provides about 76 calories, and 6 gm fat per serving.
  • This recipe can be considered diabetes friendly as well as heart friendly as it provides only 5 gm carbohydrates, 1 gm saturated fats, almost negligible amounts of cholesterol and 86 mg sodium per serving.
  • To reduce the sodium content of this recipe further use low sodium vinegar.
  • To reduce the calories and total fat of the recipe use only half the amount or only ¼ amount of olive oil instead of ¾ cup olive oil. This change will make this recipe fit for individuals on low fat diets and weight reduction diets.
  • This recipe is a healthy choice for all the individuals as it is packed with vegetables. However if you are especially on a weight reduction diet and planning to include this recipe in your meal then make sure to eat one serving of this recipe before you start with other foods in your meal. This is because vegetables are rich in fiber and can add bulk in your stomach. This in turn can make you feel satiated and you will tend to binge less over other foods present in your platter. Thus no binging means no excess intake of calories and no excess weight gain.
  • Make sure that you use chilled vegetables for this recipe as they will give a bright green and red color to the salad and make the end product more appealing.