Recipe: Low Cal Salad Dressing With Lawry’s Season Salt

by Jyl Johnson Pattee on January 4th, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Isn't it great how food can conjure up the best memories? For me, banana cookies remind me of conversations with my grandma. Peanut brittle reminds me of Christmas candy making parties with my dad. Mashed potatoes remind me of Thanksgiving with my in-laws. And canned apple sauce reminds me of the time my mom forgot about a pot of apples she was boiling on the stove, which resulted in apples and jars exploding all over the kitchen at 3 a.m. when we were all asleep. Talk about scary! We laugh about it to this day.

But no food group brings to mind better memories for me than vegetables, salad in particular.

When I was a child, my mom would take me and my siblings grocery shopping, which was no small feat given that I am the oldest of six kids. She offered us a reward for being good: our choice of a small treat from the store.

When it was treat time, my brothers and sisters made a mad dash for the candy aisle while I rushed toward the veggies. We'd all meet back up at the check-out stand, giving the cashier our treats: Snickers, M&Ms, PayDay, KitKat, Candy Necklace, and a head of cabbage. Or a tomato. Or radishes. Or anything grown in a garden. One of these things was definitely not like the others.

To say that I eat a lot of vegetables is an understatement.

Homemade Salad Dressing With Lawry's Season Salt Recipe

I lived with my grandma for a year when I was 18. She was a gourmet cook, so learning the secret to her homemade salad dressing was a surprise. Not only was it low fat, but it was also super simple. It only has four ingredients and you apply them to taste.

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil
Italian seasoning
Lime or lemon juice
Lawry's Season Salt

I find it especially delicious with spinach leaves, arugula, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, cucumbers, avocados, purple onions, and red peppers. Oh! And don't forget the cheese. Cheddar or feta are my faves!

This salad dressing reminds me of chopping veggies side by side with my grandma while talking about everything under the sun. I hope it will create amazing memories for you too!

What food conjures up great memories for you and why?

Disclosure: While I did win a $300 AmEx gift card from Lawry's at the Mom 2.0 Summit earlier this year, they did not ask or pay me to write this post. That's how much I love this product! I am pretty much their non-compensated spokesperson. You're welcome, Lawry's. 🙂

Salad photo courtesy of Flickr.

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Jyl Johnson Pattee

An active part of the Mom It Forward team, Jyl primarily writes about parenting, social good, and all things travel related. In a past life, Jyl was an award-winning copywriter and designer of corporate training programs for Fortune 100 companies. Offline, Jyl is married to @TroyPattee; a mom to two teen boys and a beagle named #Hashtag; loves large amounts of cheese, dancing, and traveling; and lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Topping her bucket list is the goal to visit 50 countries by the time she's 50.