I try to eat a big salad every day for lunch, and though I don’t always succeed, I feel much better on those days that I do. As you can imagine, eating the same thing every day could get boring; for me, the key to keeping it exciting is not so much in changing the salad ingredients but in jazzing up those ingredients with different salad dressings.
Though I know that people can be very set in their ways when it comes to dressings, I’m not a stickler for any one type of salad dressing. Thick or thin, creamy or vinegary, tart or sweet–I like all types, depending on my mood and the contents of my fridge. I just require that dressing be tasty, fresh, and low in fat.
This dressing meets all of those requirements. It’s sweet and tangy in the right proportions and gets its thickness and body from fresh blueberries rather than from added fat. I used my Vitamix to blend it to almost-smoothness (the tiny blueberry seeds remain unblended, as you can see from the photo below) but any blender that’s capable of pureeing small quantities should do the trick. Drizzle it over a bed of fresh lettuces sprinkled with tomatoes, walnuts, and a few whole blueberries for a summertime-only treat.
Blueberry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup blueberries fresh or frozen (but fresh is best)
- 1 tablespoon apple juice
- 2 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy yogurt or use water or additional apple juice
- 1 teaspoon shallots coarsely chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch stevia or other sweetener, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Puree all ingredients in blender until relatively smooth. Drizzle over salad and serve.
Nutritional info is approximate.
SusanV
30 comments imported from Blogger:
Jordan said…
This looks great! I love fruity dressings! I try to eat a salad everyday too, but it does get boring… I’m sure this will help!
2:00 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger Hannah said…
This looks amazing. Summer is the season of salads, and once I’m done going through the huge batch of your goddess dressing a made a few days ago, I’m definitely going to give this a try.
2:17 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger herbstsonne said…
Mmm, that looks really good! I love fruit-based salad dressings!
2:44 PM, July 26, 2009
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OpenID chocolatecoveredkatie said…
Ooh another use for my Vitamix… and the plethora of fresh blueberries taking over our fridge!
2:56 PM, July 26, 2009
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Anonymous Anonymous said…
Great idea. I happen to have some blueberries in the fridge, so there is my lunch tomorrow đ
2:58 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger aTxVegn said…
I’m the same way about my daily lunch salad, and I still look forward to them everyday. A fruity dressing is a nice change of pace. I’ve never made a blueberry dressing though. This looks wonderful!
3:12 PM, July 26, 2009
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Anonymous Alice Leonard said…
I’ve finally managed to get into the habit of eating salad for lunch each day – I did it by writing it in my diary every day for a couple of weeks – worked for me because I usually obey my diary! My favourite dressing at the moment is a big dollop of tahini (not fatfree, I know, but a wholefood), a squirt of tamari and a few drops of liquid smoke, all thinned down with water. Unbelievably delicious!
3:13 PM, July 26, 2009
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Anonymous moonwatcher said…
Susan,
This looks great and sounds delicious–guess I’ll be buying some more blueberries at the farmer’s market next week! I’m curious, too, if I could try it with my raspberries as well, maybe smashing some through the food mill first to hold back some seeds. . .I’ll let you know if and when I experiment. . .they don’t have as much pectin as blueberries so the consistency would be different. . .
Thanks–
xo
moonwatcher
3:20 PM, July 26, 2009
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Anonymous Susan Lowry said…
That looks delicious! I eat salad almost every evening for dinner with lentils or some other legume. And I feel so much healthier when do that. I usually do the same dressing just because it’s easy and I don’t really get tired of it. But this definitely looks yummy đ
3:20 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger Karina Allrich said…
I love berry vinaigrette. Perfect for summer. Gorgeoso. xox
3:43 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger Jacqueline said…
That dressing sounds amazing and it is such a pretty colour that you would just want to eat it right away.
4:09 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger Mary said…
Ooh, delicious. Wild Maine blueberries will be here next month, and this will be a perfect way to use them. But why summertime only? I think this would be just as great made with frozen blueberries during a snowstorm.
4:35 PM, July 26, 2009
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Anonymous Kristen said…
I absolutely can’t wait to try this dressing out!
7:47 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger nora said…
Oh! Holy yum! Thanks, Susan! I love trying new dressings, even though I have my favs (cough, back-to-basics maple balsamic from ed&bv!). The nutrition stats are GREAT on this, and I have plenty of frozen blueberries right now.
9:08 PM, July 26, 2009
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Anonymous Eco Mama said…
Looks Delicious!
11:45 PM, July 26, 2009
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Blogger fresh365 said…
Blueberries are my favorite. I am planning to go picking this weekend and will have to try this. Great idea!
8:05 AM, July 27, 2009
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OpenID lilearthmuffin said…
This looks and sounds so yummy! As soon as I can get some blueberries I am making this, I just love my salads đ
8:56 AM, July 27, 2009
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Anonymous Smokey said…
This salad looks amazing! Strawberries go well with vinaigrette too. Good sweetness to a bitter balsamic!
10:00 AM, July 27, 2009
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Anonymous Anonymous said…
Excellent! I just got fresh blueberries in, so I was pleasantly surprised to find them a main feature in your latest recipe. Thank you, Susan.
11:43 AM, July 27, 2009
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Blogger pb said…
This looks simple and yummy. I suppose it could be done using any berry. Looks like something in the ETL book, but i like that its much simpler with just a few ingredients.
12:14 PM, July 27, 2009
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Anonymous Amy Green (Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free) said…
Just wanted to let you know that although I’m not vegan I so admire your work. It’s hard not to admire good food. đ I linked to your post today – How To Make A Lower-Fat Vinaigrette
I love giving my readers quality options.
3:13 PM, July 27, 2009
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Anonymous Sagan said…
Mmmm. I love the colour!!
6:58 PM, July 27, 2009
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Blogger A_and_N said…
Now I know where the picked blueberries will go? đ
7:17 PM, July 27, 2009
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Blogger Nanette said…
Thanks so much for this recipe! I am always looking for new ideas for salad dressings and this one looks gorgeous.
1:31 AM, July 28, 2009
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OpenID haleysuzanne said…
What a beautiful and delicious way to dress a salad! I would love to make this.
8:48 PM, July 28, 2009
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Anonymous Dawn said…
Dear Susan, This comment has nothing to do with the blueberry dressing. But it sure does look delicious!
I just wanted to leave a comment to thank you for such a great blog/site. I have recently begun cooking many veg/vegan meals and your recipes are inspiring. Just a few days ago I tried Mac-N-Cheeze. Then with the leftovers I made a version of Chili Mac (using vegs I had on hand). Your creativity has given mine a spark and I thank you again. đ
7:26 AM, July 29, 2009
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Blogger NoMeatAthlete said…
I hear you on the big-salad-each-day thing! Even if it’s not replacing a meal, but in addition to it, it has tremendous health benefits.
Your dressing looks beautiful, and I’m so jealous that you have a Vitamix!
2:38 PM, July 29, 2009
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Anonymous NiCoLe said…
This dressing looks incredible, I can’t wait to try it!!!
4:16 PM, July 30, 2009
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Blogger Frollein Holle said…
I’ve tried this dressing just now for my “evening salad”…I don’t know what a Vitamix is, but I made it with my hand-blender. Really, REALLY delicious – thanks for the recipe!
12:40 PM, August 02, 2009
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Blogger Apeksha said…
This looks incredible…..am sure it’ll taste even better! What a nice change from the regular dressings!
11:23 AM, August 03, 2009
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Alena
Thank you so much for posting this! I am a huge fan of blueberries and low fat things so I am looking foward to making this.
Allie
Mmm, used pomegranate juice in place of the apple juice and soygurt and had a fabulous pomegranate-blueberry vinaigrette on my salad! Perfectly summery and blueberry-y!
moonwatcher
Hi Susan,
A year later and another blueberry season, and I finally got around to making this. It is fabulous, Susan! And so pretty. I didn’t have soy yogurt, but I had about a tablespoon and a half of your sour cream recipe left, so I used that. Scrumptious. That may have added to how quickly it sets, but that was kind of a fun food chemistry experience, to see how thick it set up so quickly. Stirring it up was all I needed to do. Anyway, thanks, a beautiful and tasty purple dressing to add to my repertoire. đ
xo
moomwatcher
Azahara
This was really good. I love blueberries (both in baked goods and au naturel), and thanks to this vinaigrette I can also enjoy them for dinner now. Thanks!
I was wondering if this recipe would work with cranberries, too. I don’t have enough blueberries in my fridge, so I’m thinking about trying with other berries (for a change!).
Azahara
I had to report back! I went ahead and used cranberries instead of blueberries (and organic pear juice instead of apple juice) and the result was lovely, too.
Anu
Hey Susan, made this today and absolutely loved it. It reminded me of this chutney: http://www.khanakhazana.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=4067. Yours is much easier and yummier (eh, new word alert)
Thanks for posting!
Anu
Tash
Ok you just made my day, I’m a blueberry fanatic, i LOVE them… i love blubbery green tea, hot or cold, fresh blueberries, blueberry sorbet, blueberry muffins anything to do with them…and this is sooo going to be added to my lists of to make :D, i can taste it now without having tasted it đ
NottinghamKate
I’ve just made this and it’s gorgeous! It’s taking almost all of my willpower to not just drink it straight out of the blender. I used mixed frozen berries as blueberries are very expensive here in England, however it is still going to be great mixed with leaves, chopped apple and walnuts.