Make It, Don't Buy It: Very Berry Viniagrette

I love a good, fresh salad. I particularly love Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, and sweet carrots--yes, carrots are sweet, I learned this after I stopped abusing my poor taste buds with large amounts of sugar, sweetener and processed junk! So why, why, why would I ruin all that tasty freshness by coating it with sugary store-bought dressing. I mean, even when we think we're doing something healthy for our bodies, we could be ruining all of our discipline with bottled sodium and sugar. Don't believe me? Go read the back of your favorite salad dressing bottle. Oh, it's Lite or Low Fat??? Even better....go on, read it. I dare you.


Astounding isn't it? The amount of sodium and sugar in the bottled stuff is downright criminal and don't even get me started on additives, coloring and preservatives.

What do I do, you ask? I'm not the oil and vinegar type. Guess what, neither am I! My 'Make it, Don't buy it' journey has been an interesting one, to say the least, especially when it comes to salad dressing because for me the more flavorful the better. This particular dressing, Very Berry Vinaigrette is inspired by Wendy's' berry chicken salad. Berries in salad is a fad popping up everywhere and I'm loving it, because I get my veggies and my fruit all in one serving and it's a great way to get Legs and The Hulk eating things they'd normally turn their noses up at. Legs (4 yrs) wolfed her salad down the other night with this dressing on it and called it 'the best sauce ever'. Yeah, I'm the mom who makes the best 'sauce' ever and it only took me 5 minutes. Even The Hulk (15 mos) ate a few bites and he hates lettuce. DH, who is addicted to Ranch, raved about it too. This one's definitely a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup berries of any kind (I used blueberries and raspberries. You can use blackberries or strawberries, etc., whatever you have on hand.)

1/4 cup Pomegranate Red Wine Vinegar (Again, use what you have on hand, but I loved the pomegranate flavor I got from this. You could use balsamic, apple cider, etc.)

1-2 tbsp. Agave nectar.

Directions:
Put in a blender.
Blend until smooth.
That's it.

 No muss, no fuss. It comes out a beautiful, vibrant purple color and tastes great on your salad. Throw a few of those berries into your salad for added sweetness and walnuts or almonds for a nice crunch!