salad dressing

If you've tried it all — resealable baggies, plastic containers from delis, and even mini shampoo bottles — but haven't yet found the best way to pack salad dressing for lunch, then try these three mini containers and bottles, made from plastic, silicone, and glass. They're guaranteed to be food-safe, durable, and, most importantly, spill-free.

Nalgene Leakproof Jars ($2) — The makers of the BPA-free plastic water bottles also make these mini leakproof jars with a screw lid that hold just enough salad dressing for lunch.

See more salad containers.

If you want to sit down to a super-healthy meal, a big salad is the way to go. With all those iron-packed greens and fiber-rich veggies, a fresh and delicious salad is super filling, without a ton of calories. That is, unless you douse your bowl in high-calorie creamy dressings. Don't let your salad cause weight gain by limiting the extras like nuts, dried fruit, croutons, and avocado (yes, it's full of healthy fats, but you don't need an entire avocado on your salad), and drizzle your bowl with one of these salad dressings, all with 50 calories or fewer per two-tablespoon serving.

1. Annie's Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette: 40
2. Seeds of Change Organic Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette: 50
3. Newman's Own Organic Lighten Up Balsamic Vinaigrette: 45
4. Spectrum Sweet Onion & Garlic Fat-Free: 15
5. Maple Groves Farms Maple Fig Vinaigrette: 30

Continue reading for five more low-calorie salad dressings.

The sky is the limit when it comes to making homemade salad dressings, yet most people still toss their greens in something store-bought or a simple mix of olive oil and balsamic. Adding a few simple ingredients can totally transform the flavor of your salads, many of which are kitchen staples.

• Fresh or dried herbs: Quickly chop herbs like parsley, mint, thyme, dill, tarragon, cilantro, basil, or chives, and whisk them into your dressing at the last minute. Dried herbs have more concentrated flavor, so use a third of the amount you would for fresh herbs.
• Flavored oils: Thee are tons of specialty oils available like walnut, pistachio, pumpkin, peanut, sesame, even smoked olive oil. Even blending just a tablespoon of a flavored oil with a neutral tasting oil like canola will add roasted, nutty accents to your dressing.

See eight more ways to liven up your salad dressings.

Ranch dressing happens to be the number one selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992. But what exactly is this creamy concoction that we seem to love to pour all over salads, pizzas, and wings?

The dressing, which started out as a simple buttermilk-based dressing enjoyed by cowboys, was made popular when Hidden Valley Ranch began serving and selling the dressing in 1952. Ranch is essentially a combination of sour cream, mayonnaise, yogurt, and/or buttermilk (which accounts for its high fat content) mixed with various seasonings, like fresh herbs and garlic powder. With ingredients this simple and straight-forward, ranch dressing can be made at home with the seasonings adjusted to your own taste buds!

How do you feel about ranch dressing? Do you pour it all over everything you eat or shy away from its creamy consistency?

Source: Flickr User whitneyinchicago

Spring cleaning may have passed, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways to constantly pare down and simplify the items in your refrigerator. I'm guilty of keeping more than a few condiments, and one of my favorite ways to make use of containers that are almost gone is to make salad dressing.

Start with a nearly empty jar of any component that will work in salad dressing, such as anchovies in oil, mustard, soy sauce, olive tapenade, or chopped sun-dried tomatoes, pictured here. (Of course, don't forget to check the date on it.)

Add in the necessary components for vinaigrette (one part acid, three parts oil of any kind), along with seasonings such as salt and pepper, and anything else you've got a hankering to add. Close the top, give it a good shake — and what do you know? You've got homemade salad dressing (in this case, flecked with bits of tomatoey goodness) in its own container!

Have you ever tried this? If not, how do you use up those last jarred bits in your fridge?

Sometimes, there's no way to hide from the fast food drive-through. Luckily, most restaurants have a healthy menu for you choose from, although with the long ingredient lists on some of these products, "healthier" is relative.

Salad offerings at fast food restaurants are no different; although the base of lettuce and other vegetables is good news for your healthier eating pledge, large dressing packets can be your diet's downfall. Before you pour on the sauce, check out the calorie stats of salad dressings from five top fast food restaurants.

Check out the healthier Italian dressing options after the break.

When making things like ice cream or salad dressing, a slow stream of liquid sometimes has to be added to a bowl while whisking. However, if one hand is whisking and the other hand is pouring, that leaves no hands to hold the bowl in place. No matter, here's what you do: take a kitchen towel and hold the top left-hand corner and the bottom right-hand corner in your hands. Twist to form a long roll and wrap the roll into a circle on your kitchen counter. Nest the mixing bowl in the middle of the circle and start whisking. The bowl will stay perfectly in place.