Dress it up!

One of my biggest complaints about the gluten-free, casein-free (dairy-free) diet is the lack of good salad dressings! I have tried several times to make my own ranch, only to be severly disappointed! We tried a bottled gfcf ranch dressing... and well... let's just say it wasn't very good - actually it was awful! Glad I tasted it first before putting it all over my salad!

I am not one to give up and saw this as an opportunity to expand my horizon in the world of salad dressings! Before the gfcf diet, the ONLY type of dressing I ever really ate was Ranch! So I decided to branch out first to vinagrettes first because I knew they were gfcf. My sister can whip up a magnificent vinagrette at the drop of a hat and make it look oh so easy... mine just never turn out as good as hers! Time is another obstacle... cause I am already making most of our meals from scratch and need a dressing that does not require me to prepare it!

Last week while I was at my Mom's house she had a dressing that had no oil in it but it was pretty good - Cilantro Lime - but I couldn't find it at any of the local stores! While I was looking, I stumbled upon "Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces" and I quickly read the label of the Honey Dijon Culinary Sauce... gluten free, sweetened with agave, made with extra virgin olive oil, low sodium, vegetarian, dairy free, soy free, nut free... sounds ok to me! So I picked two of their "culinary sauces" - Honey Dijon and Coconut Peanut (this other one does contain soy and peanuts). I am in LOVE with these new culinary sauces!

Now normally when I make a salad at home, it rarely tastes as good as a salad from a restaurant... there's just something about not making the salad and it just tastes so good! Today I made a salad that would put a restaurant salad to shame! Here is what I threw together...

handful of mixed greens
several slices of cucumber - quartered
small handful of raw walnut pieces
quarter of an avocado - cubed
a little green onion - diced
a bunch of cilantro - chopped
and then I "dressed it up" with the Coconut Peanut Culinary Sauce

YUMMY, YUMMY in my TUMMY!

Maybe it is the fact that they call it a "Culinary Sauce" that makes it taste so much better than just a plain old salad dressing!

Now you are probably asking, where can I get mine? I found mine at my local Vitamin Cottage - Natural Grocer's Store. Simply Boulder also have a website that will show you where you can buy them or you can order them online with "FREE SHIPPING!" (but I am pretty sure I paid less than 6.99 at the store for mine!) Here is their website so you can check them out yourselves:

http://www.simplyboulder.com/

Now I have only tried these scrumptious culinary sauces as salad dressings, but they also say you can also use them as marinades, or drizzles on pasta or sandwiches!