Blueberry Salad Dressing w/o Blueberry Stains

[5andi]

I’m very newly diagnosed with IC, but I always had a salad at my desk for lunch. I about died when I found salad dressing on the IC diet cheat sheet under “Usually Problematic”. I haven’t ventured past the “Probably Okay” section since I’m still too flared-up to distinguish dietary reactions.

I had to create a salad dressing I could use within my current constraints. I’ve heard some people use blueberry juice and olive oil, but it was really messy and bitter. Here’s my modification:

I quart pure organic blueberry juice (beware of citric acid preservatives)”
3 tablespoons organic cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar in the raw or 1/8 cup regular sugar and 1/8 cup light brown sugar (dark brown caramel coloring)
1 cup olive oil

Combine the blueberry juice and cornstarch in a pot over a low heat. Stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Turn up the heat a little and add the sugar, stir constantly to avoid lumps. Heat until the mixture thickened and is reduced in volume by about 1/3. It should be the constancy of a thin jam. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool, but not cold. Pour the blueberry mixture into a one quart bottle and add the olive oil. Shake well.

If you’re not sensitive to small amounts of soy, you can add ½ teaspoon of lethicin as an emulsifier (prevents the blueberry mixture and the oil from separating so much).

It’s pretty good and it doesn’t splash off your lettuce and onto your clothes - blueberry stains are hard to get out.

[kadi]

Thanks for the recipe! It looks good, I'll definitely try it out:)
I also mix pear juice (though that is hard to find without citric acid or lemon juice added!) with canola oil & a bit of dried basil.
It's quite nice on baby lettuces too.

[leelee88]

Thanks for sharing..Something I am going to try!!

[loriw]

:smile tee
The food I miss THE most is salads and all the great dressings out there!Figures that my least fav salad dressing was Ranch and my least fav fruit were pears..lol...and those are the 2 things I work with now!
I tried the cottage cheese mixture at first but just couldn't get into it but I have a bunch of the little cans of the diced pears that I use for my salads...I mix some of the juice with "light tasting" olive oil, salt, dill and let it sit for a bit and its pretty good...I also add the pears to my salad along with homemade croutons and pine nuts.I still can't eat my old dressings but I did find a dressing last week that seems tolerable to my bladder..
Its called T.Marzetti Ranch veggie dips..they come in 6 little packs and instead of vinegar being listed at like the 3rd or 4th ingrdient its the 13th.(Lots of other wierd ingredients before it but I'm not as diet sensitive as before so I'm okay with them.)Would LOVE to hear anybody's elses dressing suggestions!

[5andi]

I just made my dressing again last night and realized I need to make a couple changes. I record anything while playing with the recipe and it turns out my memory wasn’t what I thought it was.

I quart pure organic blueberry juice (beware of citric acid preservatives; I use “Whole Foods” brand)
3 tablespoons organic cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar in the raw (a mixture of half white and light brown sugar works too – don’t use dark brown, it has artificial caramel coloring)
1 cup olive oil

Combine the blueberry juice and cornstarch in a pot over a low heat. Stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Turn up the heat a little and add the sugar; stir constantly to avoid lumps. Heat until the mixture reduced in volume by about 1/4. It should be the constancy of a very thin jam or syrup. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool, but not cold. Pour the blueberry mixture into a one quart bottle. You should have about 24oz. Add the olive oil and shake well.

If you’re not sensitive to small amounts of soy, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of lethicin as an emulsifier (prevents the blueberry mixture and the oil from separating so much).

Sorry for the confusion. :bonk:

Sandi