Salads - Dress it light

This week I received following question from Foodpicker.org 

I've been trying to increase my salad intake and am not sure about what type of dressing to choose.  Could you give me some suggestions for salad dressings that are acceptable for someone with diabetes?

Eating salad is a great way to increase vegetables in your diet. Vegetables are lower in calories and carbohydrates, full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals. But it is very easy to sabotage this healthy salads with unhealthy dressings. Below are some tips to enjoy your greens without worrying about sugar, calorie or fat.

• Look for low calorie or lighter version of salad dressings
• Compare nutrition labels and choose low carbohydrate dressings. 
• Cut the fat. Choose more of vinaigrette or oil based dressings instead of creamy ones like mayonnaise based. If you do prefer mayonnaise based then choose low fat and limit serving size to few teaspoons
• Create your own dressing by using vinegar. Champagne vinegar and raspberry vinegar are great summer choices
• Make citrus dressings by substituting vinegar with  lemon, lime, or grapefruit juice
• For homemade vinaigrette, use three parts vinegar to one part oil instead of the other way around. Add seeds or herbs to it for added health benefits
• Limit to one serving (2 Tbsp) - too much dressing can turn healthy salad into a calorie disaster
• When eating at restaurant ask for substitution or order dressing on the side  
• Make your greens more delicious:

–    Use variety of veggies. Bright colored vegetables like carrots, beets, peppers, broccoli, and cucumber adds flavor, texture and provides fiber.

–    Beans like garbanzo, kidney, black, white, sprouted greens will add delicious flavor to the salad without adding extra fat or sugar.

–    Sprinkle some sunflower, pumpkin, flax seeds or pine nuts for nutty and crunchy flavor. Get added benefit of fiber and essential fatty acids

–    To sweeten up your salads use fresh fruits like apple, grapes and oranges. If using dried fruits, use it sparingly. Drying process concentrates sugars and calories and often results in loss of nutrients.

–    Fresh and dried herbs taste great so experiment with parsley, cilantro, garlic, basil, thyme, rosemary and others. Add them to simple vinaigrette or sprinkle them directly on your salad. 

• Sometimes feel like enjoying regular creamy dressing - its fine as far as you BALANCE it with other healthy food choices and exercise!

Try this: 
Girard's Light Raspberry Vinaigrette
Per 2 tablespoons: 60 cal., 3.5 g total fat (0 g sat. fat), 0 mg chol., 130 mg sodium, 7 g carb. (0 g fiber, 7 g sugar), 0 g pro

Find more diabetes friendly salad dressing on:
http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/food-to-eat/nutrition/what-to-eat-with-diabetes-winning-salad-dressings/  

"To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist - the problem is entirely the same in both cases. To know exactly how much oil one must put with one's vinegar." ~ Oscar Wilde

"Enjoy your salad light and make your day bright"