This healthy salad dressing recipe features garden fresh radish greens! Most people gobble up the red radishes and toss the greens aside, either to the compost or the chickens. But radish greens are edible and a great addition to homemade salad dressing.
This Caesar salad dressing is another favorite around here!
Originally published March 2011; this post has been updated.
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This healthy salad dressing recipe is no-fuss — simply blend the ingredients up in your blender or food processor and serve.
When you’ve made yourself a batch of pickled radishes, be sure to save the greens. The gorgeous green coloring of this dressing comes from fresh radish greens.
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Just one more way to sneak fresh greens into your diet.
You can also serve this recipe as a dip for a vegetable platter.
Radish Leaf Salad Dressing
Topping a salad with homemade dressing is one of the easiest “green” swaps you can make. No more plastic bottles heading to the landfill from your house!
Ingredients
Radish Greens — Radish leaves are entirely edible. They do have a bit of a fuzzy texture that can be off-putting to some people; blending them up into a recipe like this solves that problem.
Sour Cream — You can use store-bought sour cream or try making your own. If you like more tang to your salad dressing, you can substitute plain yogurt for up to half of the sour cream.
Garlic — Peel the cloves and leave them whole. The blender will make quick work of it. Can you use powdered? You could, but…
Olive Oil — Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Balsamic vinegar — Traditional balsamic vinegar hails from the town of Modena in Italy. The process of making it is complex but nets a mild and sweet flavor.
Making It
Combine all ingredients together in a blender of bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Storage
Transfer leftover salad dressing to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to a week.
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Creamy Radish Leaf Salad Dressing
This healthy radish leaf salad dressing recipe features radish greens. Use it to top your favorite green salad or serve it as a dip with fresh veggies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup radish greens (from one bunch)
- 1 clove garlic
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients together in a blender or bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.
- Serve with salad or as a veggie dip.
Notes
You can use store-bought sour cream or try making your own. If you like more tang to your salad dressing, you can substitute plain yogurt for up to half of the sour cream. You can also serve this as a dip for a vegetable platter.
Store leftover dressing the an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 61Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 283mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
Loves this easy dressing idea. How long does it last in the fridge for?
A week or so.
Great recipes!
And easy to make.
The only dressing I buy is Annie’s Organic Roasted Garlic . It is really good on steamed veggies . I can’t remember the last time I bought anything else . My go to recipe is Cook’s Illustrated Low Fat Parmesan Peppercorn . However we have a new favorite that is very tasty . Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette . Ingredients: 6 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar, 1/4 Cup Honey, 3/4 cup Sunflower Oil, 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano,1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1-2 Chipotles in Adobo Sauce, 2 small cloves garlic minced. Combine all in blender or processer. Serve immediately or store in fridge !
I like to make my own using healthy oils. Walnut oil, hazelnut, pumpkin seed, sesame, and avocado oil make nice dressings. My favorite is 2 spoons of hazelnut oil, 1 spoon of trader joe’s pomegranate vinegar, and 1/2 spoon of fig balsamic vinegar. This is enought to dress a big bowl of salad for two. Just put in a teacup and beat the crap out of it with a fork. Takes about one minute to make.
Last thing, promise. I put my dressings and mayo in empty pint canning jars and use the plastic (I know!!) screw on lids you can buy at the grocery store. BUT I’m using them over and over again forever and ever. I have a cute little cruet for my vinaigrettes, but the creamy dressings go in my canning jars.
And I was also going to tell you that I make a lot of my own seasonings, like taco seasoning, chili seasoning, etc. No buying those little foil and paper packets. I buy my seasoning in the larger containers at Costco (bc any bigger and I’d never get through them). They can be used for storing things like nails or screws or buttons or markers or all kinds of things.
Ok, I think I’m done.
I would love that ranch dressing recipe and the green goddess recipe if they shared.
I love to make my own salad dressing. I’ve been experimenting with ranch and may have come up with what I want. I’m making another batch tomorrow (bc I had to use up the rest of my current batch tonight). If I like it, I’ll share. I’ve found the key to some of these is letting them rest for at least 4 hours, especially if vinegar is involved.
Here is a creamy Italian dressing one of my readers shared. I liked it. The key was letting it rest overnight. When I first made it I didn’t like it, but the next day it was great. https://www.ourfoodstorage.com/2011/08/03/zucchini-again-i-know/
Balsamic vinaigrette. what I like about this one is I can really vary it by changing the amount of honey I use. If I use a little honey it’s got some bite. If I increase it, it becomes much sweeter (obviously), but just a different flavor. On that same post is a citrus vinaigrette that is not only good on salad, but excellent on salmon:
https://www.ourfoodstorage.com/2010/03/28/gardens-salads-and-vinaigrettes/
I love thise poppy seed dressing recipe and the salad we use it on (the salad is good with lots of different fruits when strawberries are out of season like pears or blueberries):
https://www.ourfoodstorage.com/2009/06/10/rotating-dehydrated-onions/
I also have a honey mustard dressing that I haven’t posted, but here it is:
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 c mustard
1/4 c honey
salt to taste
pinch of cayenne
I even make my own mayo with light olive oil to make my creamy dressings (or a sandwich ):
https://www.ourfoodstorage.com/2010/12/26/holiday-leftovers-and-homemade-mayo/
Hmm. That was more than I realized I had posted.
I like cumin, but I’ve never tried it in salad dressing. I’ll have to give that a go.
we have enjoyed making our own dressings for some time — and you can include whatever spices strike your imagination, which is fun. adding a little (or a lot of!) cumin is a often a favorite thing to do at our house
Not sure if Dean and Deluca fit your sustainable mandate but I love this dressing 🙂
https://www.deandeluca.com/recipes/recipe_caesar_salad_with_roquefort_dressing_and_crispy_walnuts.aspx
Thanks for the shout-out. I’m hooked on making my own dressing–it’s so easy and fun.
My husband made organic Goddess dressing (so expensive and delicious to buy) and we all LOVED it. Now it’s a staple in our house. But he has to make a lot, since the kids gobble it up.
Is that the old 70s green goddess dressing? I’d like to try that.
We always make our own, very simple: few teaspoons of wine vinegar, one teaspoon of lemon juice, the same number of teaspoons of olive oil, salt and pepper, and half a spoon to a spoon of Dijon mustard. You whip it with a fork. Then I add a clove of pressed garlic. Yum!
Garlic is the ticket, for me.
One of my standard go-to recipes is SO simple and fast and tasty. I use equal parts dijon mustard, canola/veg oil, and a dash of dried sage. (You can use fresh when it’s in season.. just cut it up for full flavor). I put a slight splash of water to thin it out.. and voila.. done. Throw it with some fresh grated parmesan.. it’s tasty. If you omit the water it makes a great glaze for chicken too.
I love how easy you make it sound. A splash of this, a dash of that – that’s how I cook!
I really like just simple oil and vinegar for a dressing, but it certainly doesn’t take much to integrate a few other things and mix it up a little.
I make my own croutons with leftover bread, but I hadn’t thought to make my own salad dressing, too. Thanks for the suggested recipes!
Homemade croutons are yummy, too!
I’ve got a GREAT homemade ranch dressing recipe… care to be a recipe tester?
Yes, please!