Salads are on of the
first foods that most people think of when they hear the word 'diet'
or lifestyle change. Salads can be a good way for you to add
beneficial greens (spinach, kale, arugula, swiss chard) to your diet.
The primary problem with salads and the low carbohydrate high fat
(LCHF) lifestyle is not the salad itself, but the dressings that most
people put on them. Yes, I know there are some vegetables found in
salads are higher in carbohydrates than others, however the one item
that increases the carbohydrate count of the salad you are eating is
the dressing you use.
According to a
survey done by 'Statista' in 2014 through 2015, almost 29,000
American households were surveyed to determine the types of salad
dressings that Americans consumed. I have listed the top five
dressings in their survey. The most obvious was Ranch (47.23%),
Italian (18.71%), Thousand Island (14.42%), Vinaigrettes (13.16%),
and Caesar (13.02%).
LCHF Thousand Island
Dressing (Yield: 20 Tablespoons)
¾ cup homemade LCHF
mayonnaise or Hellman's mayonnaise
¼ cup LCHF ketchup
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1 large hard-boiled egg, peeled and mashed
¼ cup LCHF ketchup
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1 large hard-boiled egg, peeled and mashed
1 teaspoon apple
cider vinegar
1 teaspoon minced fresh chives (optional)
1 teaspoon minced fresh chives (optional)
1 teaspoon pimentos,
minced
1 teaspoon Splenda
or other low calorie sweetener (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon onion
powder
¼ teaspoon garlic
powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon white
or black pepper
Dice the hard boiled
egg into small pieces and then place in a small bowl and mash with a
fork into small pieces.
Combine all the
ingredients (except the heavy cream) into a medium sized bowl and mix
with a wire whisk until throughly combined. Then add the
minced/mashed egg and mix again until throughly combined.
Check the seasonings
and adjust the salt, pepper, and Splenda to meet your individual
tastes. Place the dressing in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours before
serving. The dressing is good for 7 – 10 days depending on the
ingredients that you used to make it.
Chef's Note: In the
restaurant we would run the egg through a food mill or ricer. If you
have a ricer or food mill you could run the egg through one of these,
but for home use I feel the clean up is not worth the trouble. An
alternative would be to press the egg through a strainer or fine
sieve, but I like my dressing to have small chunks of egg in it. The
choice is of course up to you.
Total Recipe -
Calories 1352, fat 142 grams, protein 8.53 grams, carbohydrates 10.7
grams
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 67.6, fat 7.1 grams, protein 0.4, carbohydrates 0.53 grams
Kraft Thousand
Island
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 40, fat 3 grams, protein 0, carbohydrates 1.5 grams
The Diabetic Factor
Let's face it, the
primary carbohydrate culprit in Thousand Island dressing as with most
dressings and other condiments is sugar. Almost always high fructose
corn sugar to be specific. This is a problem for those of us who are
diabetic. Now if you only used 1 – 2 tablespoons of a commercially
prepared Thousand Island dressing then you would only be consuming an
additional 1.5 – 3 grams of carbohydrates with your salad. But
don't kid yourself, most people put ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) or more of
dressing on their salad just because they are not good at judging
volume.
By eliminating the
high fructose corn sugars found in ketchup by making your own LCHF
ketchup you can reduce the overall carbohydrate count of Thousand
Island dressing to 0.6 grams per tablespoon. That's a 60% reduction
in the number of carbohydrates per tablespoon of dressing. So if you
put a little extra dressing on your salad, say 3 tablespoons you are
only adding 1.8 grams of carbohydrates. Almost the same amount of
carbohydrates as in 1 tablespoon of Kraft Thousand Island Dressing.
The Ingredients
So why go to all the
trouble of making your own version of Thousand Island dressing? I
mean the commercial prepared dressings are convenient to use, and
they taste good. Other than the carbohydrate count, the major concern
for me is the ingredients that makeup most commercial dressings.
Let's face it, Kraft Thousand Island dressing has way to many
preservatives and artificial flavorings. Yes, commercial dressings
are shelf stable and will last for quite some time in your pantry,
but at what cost? Making your own Thousand Island dressing gives you
total control of what you consume. So let's examine the ingredients
in both dressings.
Kraft Thousand
Island Dressing – Soybean oil, tomato puree (tomato paste, water)
vinegar, sugar, water, chopped pickles, egg yolks, salt, natural
flavors, contains 2% or less of the following (mustard flour, dried
onions, xanthan gum, dried red bell peppers, citric acid, paprika,
turmeric, potassium sorbate, calcium disodium EDTA).
Homemade Thousand
Island Dressing – LCHF Mayonnaise, heavy whipping cream, vinegar,
chives, chopped pickles, chopped pimentos, onions, salt, eggs
(including yolks), Splenda, white pepper, and paprika.
I know which
dressing I would rather feed to my family. Anyway, just in case you
want to experiment with some additional ingredients or change up the
ratios, I have included the basic nutritional information for all the
ingredients that are or can be used to make your own LCHF Thousand
Island dressing
Hellman's Mayonnaise
(1 Cup) – Calories 960, protein 0, fat 160, carbs 0 grams
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 90, protein 0, fat 10 grams, carbs 0 grams
LCHF Mayonnaise (1
Cup) – Calories 1633, protein 2.2 grams, fat 183 grams, carbohydrates 1.1 grams
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 102, protein 0.14 grams, fat 11.4 grams, carbs 0.06 grams
LCHF Ketchup
1 Cup – Calories 97, fat 0 grams, protein 2.1 grams, 16 carbohydrates
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 6, fat 0 grams, protein 0.13 grams, carbs 1 gram
Dill Pickle Relish
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 0, fat 0, protein 0, carbohydrates 0.1 grams
Sweet Pickle Relish
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 10, fat 0, protein 0, carbohydrates 3 grams
Conclusion
In my earlier
articles 'Making Your Own LCHF Condiments' and 'Vinaigrettes, The Original No Carb Dressings' I talked about how hidden carbohydrates
can really derail your low carbohydrate lifestyle. This is especially
true if you are trying to keep your body in a state of ketosis so
that your body burns fat rather than carbohydrates. The use of salad
dressings is one of those items that can jump up and totally derail
your low carb lifestyle if you are not careful. One of the best ways
to eliminate this threat to your dietary regimen is to make your own
low carbohydrate salad dressings.
Let's be honest,
salads are one of the first items that most people who begin on a
diet or lifestyle change add to their eating plan. And while the
addition of a good salad with lot's of beneficial greens can be a
stabilizing factor in a person's dietary changes, all these benefits
can be eliminated with the overuse of high carbohydrate salad
dressings. If you really want to be successful with your low
carbohydrate lifestyle and you enjoy eating salads, then I encourage
you to experiment and make your own LCHF salad dressings. As always,
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