Taste Test + Giveaway – Green Garden Salad Dressings

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying “You Don’t Win Friends with Salad“. Well I think it’s just silly – it should be changed to “You Don’t Win Friends with Boring Salad.” That seems much more legit – a boring bowl of iceberg lettuce with a squeeze of lemon probably isn’t going to make you many friends. But switch up your greens, add tasty toppings, and drizzle on some flavourful dressing, and I bet you’ll find people changing their tune.

Speaking of flavourful dressings – I was fortunate to receive the whole range of Green Garden Salad Dressings from Litehouse Foods to sample and share with you. This new line of organic, GMO-free, and gluten free salad dressings features 5 unique flavours:

• Sweet Onion
• Balsamic Herb
• Pomegranate Hibiscus
• Orange Miso
• Lime Cumin

While I know making your own salad dressing can be easy and fun, I really enjoy the convenience of having prepared salad dressings in my fridge. It means I have an easy option for dressing up some salad greens, creating a quick vegetable dip, or a ready to go marinade for chicken or fish. It also encourages my significant other to eat more veggies, which is a win in my books. Of course, not all dressings are created equal so it pays to read the labels – some can be high in sodium or added sugars, and I don’t know how much I trust dressings (especially creamy ones) that can sit on a shelf without refrigeration for a really long time. That’s another reason why I like the Litehouse dressings – they are found in the refrigerated section of the produce section, so they are much closer to a fresh homemade dressing.

I put each dressing through a taste test, so here are my thoughts (in no specific order).

Sweet Onion

This was one of the flavours that caught my eye right away. I was surprised when I first tasted it, as it had a definite smoky flavour that I wasn’t expecting. It was almost reminiscent of a bacon & onion chip dip I remember having as a child (which I’m not even sure they make anymore). It definitely made me think of how it would work as a marinade for anything you were going to grill. I also combined some with Greek yogurt to make a veggie dip that was really good.

Balsamic Herb

This was a fairly standard tasting balsamic dressing, with lots of Italian herb flavours. I think this would be a good basic dressing to have on hand for any sort of green salad – which was exactly how I enjoyed it!

Pomegranate Hibiscus

This was the other dressing I was super intrigued by, because I love pomegranate and I love hibiscus, so clearly it had to be amazing. I liked the vibrant pink colour and the sweet-tart flavour of the dressing. I made an amazing and simple salad that included hazelnuts, goat cheese, and pomegranate arils, and it was the perfect pairing. I would definitely use this one as dressing for salads that include fruits (see the first picture in this post). Yum!

Orange Miso

I am always curious about salad dressings with an Asian flair – I find they can be hit or miss, especially if you want to use them on salad greens. This dressing has a very miso forward flavour with citrus notes. I think it would be good as a marinade for chicken, fish, or tofu, or to dress cold soba noodles. Next time I’m making salmon for dinner, I am going to experiment with this more for sure!

Lime Cumin

This dressing packs a punch of flavour! The cumin and chili flavours really shine through, with the lime being more of a background note. It immediately made me want to marinade meat with it, for a southwestern/Mexican meal. First chance I had, I was grilling up chicken breasts that had spent some time in this dressing to top some Mexican quinoa bowls. I think I’m going to try it as a marinade for pork tenderloin next. If you were going to use this as a salad dressing, I think it would need to be something hearty like a grain or bean salad.

Overall – I enjoyed trying out the Green Garden Dressings from Litehouse Foods. My favourites were the Pomegranate Hibiscus and the Sweet Onion just based on my own personal tastes, but I think they were all very solid. But you don’t just have to take my word for it – Litehouse has graciously offered to send 1 lucky reader a prize pack with all 5 Green Garden dressings! There are 2 easy ways to enter:

• Leave a comment on this post letting me which flavour you are most excited to try (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry):

RT to enter to win @litehousefoods Green Garden Dressings from @Evergreen_RD http://wp.me/pkngt-6BM 

This contest is open to Canadian residents only. The contest will close at 23:59 on Monday, November 9th, and I will randomly select and post the winner on November 10th.

Disclaimer – all samples were provided to me free of charge from Litehouse Foods. All opinions are my own.