Salad Dressings

This dressing is another one from Walden Farms that unfortunately is not zero calories/zero fat. At first all the dressing from Walden Farm appeared to be zero/zero but now I’m finding more and more that are not. This one, however, is Sugar Free. I would categorize as normal in many ways and does have a little more taste than most of the rest of the WF dressings. The smell is weak and to me, does not even have the smell of balsamic vinegar although it is listed in the ingredients.

The nutrition facts on the label show that this dressing is not too bad for you. It has no saturated fat or trans fat and only 4g of fat overall. It also has no carbs, cholesterol or sugar but it does contain 40 calories per serving and 35 of these calories coming from fat. But I still can’t figure out why Walden Farms can’t seem to make a dressing with much taste. The only one that does (that I have tried) is the Creamy Bacon Dressing and unfortunately the taste is has is not good. This Balsamic dressing is not offensive and definitely not overpowering but you still have to work to find much taste at all. It does have the characteristic look and color of other balsamic vinaigrettes but little of the taste. It is not good but also it is not bad – just “blah”.

Taste Rating = 3 bottles
Overall Rating = 3 bottles
Style Category = Vinaigrette
Fat Category = low
Calorie Category = low
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

This dressing from Wishbone is billed as “Delicately Sweet & Tangy” and I think this one does resemble the moniker. When you first taste this dressing you automatically think “Chinese food” which is most likely because of the combination of ginger and soy sauce which is linked to Chinese dishes. This dressing does contain both of them. My first impression notices the “tangy” more than the “sweet” but if you concentrate you do notice the sweet taste but it is not too obvious. The “tangy” is not overpowering but a pleasant and unique taste and the smell is similar. The appearance is a little different as well; medium brown with light colored particle suspended in it. Many of the particles appear to be sesame seeds.

The calories in this dressing are a little higher than some (70) as is fat calories (45) but is in line with other “light” dressings. Carbs and sugars are in the med range at 6g and 5g respectively. serving size in order to be able to taste the dressing. The ingredient list is pretty much on par with the other but does include a few differences. In addition to the soy sauce and ginger it does contain vinegar from rice wine (distilled), sesame oil and orange juice concentrate.

This dressing is definitely a change-of-pace in a dressing. I don’t see it as being an “every day” type of dressing but only an occasional choice. Since it does have a “Chinese food” taste and since I only want that every now-and-then I wouldn’t want it too soon after eating Chinese food and if you don’t’ like that taste then you probably won’t like this dressing either. I found it to be a refreshing taste after some of the blander tasting dressings.

Taste Rating = 7 bottles

Overall Rating = 6 bottles

Style Category = Vinaigrette

Fat Category = med fat

Calorie Category = med calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = med

Zero calories, zero fat, zero sugar…. Sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it? How bad could it be? With no bad stuff in it I thought it would be possible to just drink it like water and pour as much on your salad as you liked. Anyone conscious of their weight or health would have to pay attention to this dressing. With much anticipation I tried this Honey Dijon Vinaigrette from Walden Farms.

I smelled the open bottle first. The smell was reminiscent of eggs and mayonnaise (notice I said “reminiscent” since neither is contained in this dressing). My first taste was from sticking my finger in the bottle and putting it to my lips. Not too bad I thought; very weak but not offensive. I tried it on a tossed salad and when I got through eating I thought – what was the use of that? This is pretty much the conclusion I came to – why bother? The dressing is creamy, but it is watery and thin. You get finished eating it and can’t remember what you were eating. There is almost no taste at all. There is no after-taste and that is good but that’s about the best you can say about it. I keep going back to try it again by tasting the dressing alone and get the same impression- there is a hint (just a hint) of Dijon mustard but that is all. It is so weak the taste is overwhelmed by a bland lettuce like iceberg. It keeps your salad from being dry but that is about all.

The list of ingredients should clue you in to the taste of this dressing: “Purified Triple Filtered Water” is the main ingredient followed by apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, Dijon mustard, cellulose gel, onion, garlic, beta carotene, xanthan gum, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate, food color and sucralose. Not too much to object to here. Don’t expect to get many vitamins or minerals from the dressing either because there are none supplied in this product. Their Web site is not informative; it is mainly a shopping site where you can order salad dressing and other of their products. It took me a few clicks to actually find any information about the dressings other than a couple of videos from a television show in Houston. When I clicked on “More Information” I was just taken to another page that produced the same PR rhetoric that is displayed on the bottle and no new data.

I used this dressing on my salads for several lunches. I applaud Walden Farms for producing dressings that contain no calories, fat, or sugars and I don’t want to be too hard on them. They sell several other dressings and I can only hope that their taste is bolder than this one. I am anxious to try the different flavors but for now I’m not in any hurry to use the Honey Dijon Vinaigrette again.

Taste Rating = 3 bottles

Overall Rating = 3 bottles

Style Category = Honey Mustard

Fat Category = fat free

Calorie Category = no calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = med