Author Topic: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??  (Read 10700 times)

anotherAlias

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Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« on: September 06, 2018, 12:29:38 PM »
After a lengthy appointment with a new allergist, she is recommending an elimination diet to try to determine if any foods are the cause of my constant runny nose and itching outside of the standard allergy season.  Sure, I say.  I'll try anything that might help.  uh, now i have a list of foods to avoid that is pretty much my entire current diet.  I think I can manage most of it by sticking strictly to meat, approved vegetables and whole grains.  The problem is condiments, sauces and dressings.  I'm not supposed to have anything with vinegar, citrus juices or most spices.  So what the ever loving hell can I put on a salad besides olive oil, salt and pepper.  This is specifically a Balsam of Peru-free diet, if anyone has experience with that.  I know a lot of Mustachians embrace cooking from scratch more than I do so I thought maybe one of you have a good recipe to share. 

terran

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2018, 12:34:26 PM »
Seems like that would suggest the creamy dressings like ranch or blue cheese. Of course whether you want those is another issue.

anotherAlias

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2018, 12:40:54 PM »
All of the recipes I've seen for Ranch or Blue Cheese use vinegar or lemon juice to give it the tang.  I thought about trying to just leave that out, but I think that would ruin the taste.

honeybbq

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2018, 01:02:16 PM »
Maybe try something like green goddess dressing but leave out the lemon juice? At least it would be creamy and have flavor.

terran

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2018, 01:11:55 PM »
Is greek yogurt ok? That has a vinegar like tang to it, so I bet you'd find some recipes based on that.

anotherAlias

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2018, 01:17:32 PM »
Is greek yogurt ok? That has a vinegar like tang to it, so I bet you'd find some recipes based on that.
oh that should work.  I hadn't thought of that.  It would be a sort of close replacement for mayo in a creamy recipe.  Sheesh this has been exhausting.  I hate meal planning in normal circumstances and this has taken things to a whole new level of frustration.

Cranky

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2018, 01:22:54 PM »
Ranch dressing was traditionally made with mayo and buttermilk. I always cut way back in n the mayo and mostly used buttermilk.

Dicey

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2018, 05:34:31 AM »
Hmmm, my mom used to make a Catalina dressing, which was mayo and catsup, IIRC.. I haven't thought of it in years, but remember liking it as a kid.

brute

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2018, 07:26:11 AM »
What's the rationale behind eliminating vinegar? That will help me a whole lot in suggesting alternatives.

If it's the acids, you're SOL. If it's a specific acid, we might be able to work here.

Acetic acid: most vinegars are this
Citric acid: fruits, but also tomatoes
Lactic Acid: soured milk products
Malic acid: strawberries i guess

If they cant tell you which of these or why, then you can figure out what is safe. If it's the bacteria the create acids, there's another consideration. Acetobacter and lactic acid bacteria can be very helpful, and are usually suggested as things to reduce allergies or other odd symptoms, but who knows, maybe they can cause problems sometimes. If they can't tell you more, then nothing sour is going to be a good idea while you're doing the initial stage.


AMandM

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2018, 07:50:55 AM »
Ketchup contains vinegar.

Cranky

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2018, 07:51:04 AM »
Hmmm. Looking at that diet - no dill, no tomato products.

I think I might switch to cut up veggies with a little salt and pepper, and maybe some plain sour cream to dip it in.

Have you had the patch test?

patchyfacialhair

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2018, 08:42:14 AM »
I like a little bit of olive oil and a sprinkling of feta on salads. The olive oil gives it the necessary moisture to get away from a dry salad, and the feta adds enough creaminess and flavor to make things interesting.

gatortator

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2018, 09:29:14 AM »
is wine compatible with the diet?  it also has an acidic component.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2018, 09:33:43 AM by gatortator »

anotherAlias

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2018, 12:25:14 PM »
What's the rationale behind eliminating vinegar? That will help me a whole lot in suggesting alternatives.

If it's the acids, you're SOL. If it's a specific acid, we might be able to work here.

Acetic acid: most vinegars are this
Citric acid: fruits, but also tomatoes
Lactic Acid: soured milk products
Malic acid: strawberries i guess

If they cant tell you which of these or why, then you can figure out what is safe. If it's the bacteria the create acids, there's another consideration. Acetobacter and lactic acid bacteria can be very helpful, and are usually suggested as things to reduce allergies or other odd symptoms, but who knows, maybe they can cause problems sometimes. If they can't tell you more, then nothing sour is going to be a good idea while you're doing the initial stage.

The diet is supposed to eliminate balsam of Peru and foods that the body reacts similarly to.  The list of foods I'm supposed to avoid includes tomatoes, citrus fruits, chocolate, vinegar, soda, vanilla and a bunch of other spices.

anotherAlias

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2018, 12:27:27 PM »
is wine compatible with the diet?  it also has an acidic component.

Nope, no wine either.  I did try plain olive oil with salt and pepper on my salad for lunch.  It wasn't great but it's better than plain dry vegetables.

anotherAlias

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #15 on: September 07, 2018, 12:30:33 PM »
Hmmm. Looking at that diet - no dill, no tomato products.

I think I might switch to cut up veggies with a little salt and pepper, and maybe some plain sour cream to dip it in.

Have you had the patch test?

No, she just did a scratch test and the subcutaneous individual ones.


Ecky

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2020, 05:53:24 PM »
Give this a try: https://www.food.com/recipe/hare-krishna-almond-salad-dressing-327161

Quote
1⁄2 cup almonds
1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil or 1/2 cup sunflower oil
5⁄8 cup water
1⁄4 cup nutritional yeast
1 1⁄2 tablespoons Braggs liquid aminos (or soya sauce if you don't like braggs)
1⁄8 teaspoon hing ("asafetida")

You'll probably have to sub hing for something else. This is one of my favorite dressings.

kei te pai

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #18 on: May 02, 2020, 03:54:00 AM »
Avocado blended with greek yoghurt, a garlic clove and salt and pepper. Adjust proportions to get the right taste and texture.

Catica

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #19 on: May 02, 2020, 05:09:44 AM »
miso diluted in water

former player

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #20 on: May 02, 2020, 06:16:54 AM »
I like a little bit of olive oil and a sprinkling of feta on salads. The olive oil gives it the necessary moisture to get away from a dry salad, and the feta adds enough creaminess and flavor to make things interesting.

The essentials of a Greek salad are feta cheese, olive oil and oregano.  Anything without one of those is tourist fare.

Tzatsiki is Greek yoghurt, garlic and cucumber.

So perhaps you could look at very traditional east Mediterranean foods, Greek, Turkish, Lebanese for inspiration?

I hope you are not a violinist, if you have to avoid rosin.


AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Homemade salad dressing without lemon juice or vinegar??
« Reply #21 on: May 02, 2020, 07:57:34 AM »
I would use something yoghurt based to give you the tang, and also the thickness that you'd normally get from oil/acid interaction. Lower calorie also. Should be able to make just about anything with that base - add chopped herbs, or garlic, or soft cheeses, or ground toasted seeds/nuts, or miso, or chilli, or spices etc etc. You could do any nationality of food really.

Now I wonder why I bother making mayo..... I think I'll just use yoghurt from now on.