Why is there a difference in the amount of carbs in a take-out dressing vs. a store bought dressing???? I have a bottle of store brand caesar dressing that says 0 carbs. 0 sugars 0 protein...BUT when I went out to Wendys to get a salad, their caesar dressing had like 5 or 6 carbs. (can't remember exactly) so I chucked the dressing in the trash and brought my salad home to eat. Could someone please enlighten me on this?? Does my 0 carb dressing really have more carbs than I think???

It might depend on the "serving size". The Wendy's salad dressing would be the carbs for the whole container. But the bottled dressing might be zero carbs per tbsp. HOWEVER, by law,that label can say ZERO if there it has "less than one carb per serving." Even 0.9 gm can be listed as zero.

Or perhaps one dressing does just have more carbs. Read the label. The first ingredients ought to be low carb things such as oil, egg yolk, vinegar, spices. Sugar and starch ought to be 5th or more on the list, or else go looing for another brand. Creamy dressings TEND to be lower carb than other types. So I make my own.

I don't know where you live, but in Canada there is a brand called Renee's Gourmet Dressings which are very low carb and delicious.

I agree with Tofi with the making your own dressing. Good gosh, people think I'm insane standing there in the store looking at the back of every bottle to simply leave in disgust because the only ones that are acceptable are pretty gross.

Simple vinaigrettes are easy to make and refrigerate well.

I also make an Oriental themed dressing:
1 serving
1 TBS sesame oil
1/2 TBS soy sauce ( I use wheat free organic Tamari)
1/2 TBS white vinegar (generic is fine)
splash of wasabi (to preference)
pinch of sesame seeds

total carb count minimal but use 1 JIC

It really dresses up a plain romaine lettuce salad

HTH

Nancy (aka the salad nut)

Hey - That looks good Nancy! I'm copying it down. Can we get more of your recipes in the recipe forum?

~Mel

Thanks Melinda,
I just posted a recipe for Fried softshell crabs w/ pesto cream sauce in Main dishes.
Yum.

I'm still in Induction but these recipes have really saved me.

NAncy

I don't really like bottled dressing, either, and I love Ceasar salad. Here's mine:

1/3 cup good olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 egg
1 whole can anchovy flat filets, drained
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Put everything in the blender and puree til smooth.

Toss with romaine and fresh romano or parmesan cheese, some grilled shrimp....or chicken....

(I only keep it a couple of days or so, because of the raw egg.)

I think there is a big difference between the types of dressing that fast food joints serve and "nice" restaurants. There certainly seems to be a taste difference LOL. I am probably biased however, as I have always thought fast food tasted like crap and it always gave me indigestion anyway. You were smart to toss that dressing and use your own. I don't know how they do it, but I swear fast food places put sugar and chemicals onto food they have no business being on!! I have had plain chicken patties that tasted sweet, like they have been glazed with sugar.

Personally, I would recommend staying away from fast food places as much as possible. Of course, sometimes that's all that's available or the only thing "quick enough." Bringing your own dressing to put on Wendy's salads is a good idea. Do you have inexpensive local restaurants that you can patron? Often, they use more natural ingredients than chain restaraunts, and are less likely to give you the run-around when you ask what's in the food.

Besides, why give more money to some fat cat 1500 miles away

Thanks for the heads up on all this. I'll definately try those recipes!! As far as a "nice " place to go out to eat....well, my husband dragged me here to this one horse town on a construction job.... If you want to do anything or go anywhere you have to drive like an hour away, and even then the pickins are slim. But thank you for the advice.

The problem with Wendy's salads--they are really good and they have more stuff on them for the price than regular restaurants. Just take your own dressing. I get the Chicken BLT salad often. It's about the best low carb meal you can get in a fast food place, I think. Just take your own dressing. I have a bottle here at work for special events. Ditch the crotons and use your own salad and you've got a good LC meal.

Are you sure you didn't have the low fat Caesar dressing? I thought Wendy's Caesar dressing had 1 carb / packet. You really have to watch that they don't give you low fat instead of regular - they do it to me all the time!

hmmmm...I really didn't notice if it was low fat or not, I just read the carbs and chucked it...but I'll keep a closer eye out...

TY TY

You should try the Ceasar Side Salad at Wendy's...

The Salad has 2 grams of carbs (-1 gram of fiber) and their standard (not lite) ceasar dressing has only 1 gram of carb. They give you croutons on the side, so you can refuse them or toss 'em.

It's a great deal at $.99 too!

I use Bernstein's Creamy Caesar. It's the best darned Caesar dressing I've found and it has 1 g carb for 2 tablespoons. It's available in nearly all groceries where I live in The Beautiful Pacific Northwest USA or you can hit their website:

www.bernsteins.com

I appreciate the tip on Wendy's Chicken BLT Salad...I'll hafta try it real soon.