Curry Pineapple Vinaigrette

homemade salad dressing, low fat dressing, pineapple dressing

It’s officially been a month since I started working from home as a part-time engineer and wanna be full-time blogger/freelancer/e-book writer/conference planner – and yes, those are officially hints.

And I’ve officially been more busy than I ever have in my adult life. Not just with the workload, that never seems to let up; it’s the little things, too. Truth be told, I made some sacrifices to free up a little more time. Like, showering and putting on makeup every day. Totally overrated. But in their place, I’m doing things like… taking the dog out 17 times a day. Checking out the profile of every single person who follows me on Pinterest (no joke, those notifications make up about 90% of the emails I get.) And making my own lunch. Because apparently husbands don’t have to make their wives’ lunches anymore when they’re going to be home all day. Seriously, who came up with that rule?

At least I don’t have to think too hard about my lunch. The grocery list is the same every week, and has been for months: greens, cauliflower, beets, red pepper, red onion, cucumbers, carrots, and grape tomatoes. I’m a creature of habit, except when I get fancy and decide to make some chicken or a salmon burger instead of my go-to protein, a can of tuna. Once I get it all in a bowl, and chop chop chop, I think I’m ready to go… and then I remember, dressing! Every day, it’s another bowl to drag out, another handful of utensils to dirty my question, as I whisk together some concoction of vinegar and mustard and sweetener.

What exactly is the reason I don’t just scale it up one day, so that there’s less work to do on the other days? And more importantly, why was Ben making single-servings of dressing everyday, without complaining? The latter is easy; my man aims to please and has endless energy. Me, on the other hand, I’m a little more lazy. Ok, a lot more. Notice how many times I’ve made the bed since I started working from home: 1 1/2.

I quickly smartened up. Inspired by an empty coconut oil jar, I thought, wouldn’t that make a pretty picture if I filled it with salad dressing? (Notice, the convenience factor of having a jar of dressing ready to go came second.) And that’s where this easy homemade salad dressing recipe was born. A simple combination of fruit, vinegar, mustard and spices with a touch of olive oil to round out the texture and soften the flavor. A flavor unlike anything I’ve ever tasted from a jar; a little more complex than my regular quick mixes but really no more difficult. If I was ever on the verge of becoming sick of this salad, it certainly wouldn’t be now.

easy homemade salad dressing, low-fat dressing, curry vinaigrette

PS – Didn’t make it to Nourished? My Food Photography Made Simple presentation was a hit – come see what all the fuss is about! The file is available here.

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Pineapple Curry Vinaigrette

Yield: 16 servings, 2 tablespoons each

A sweet and tangy low-fat dressing, great for salads, carrot sticks and sweet potato fries.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (120gm) diced fresh pineapple
3/4 cup champagne vinegar
1/2 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup (packed) cilantro
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon sweet yellow curry powder
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for olive oil in a blender, and whiz until smooth. Blend in the olive oil last. Pour into a clean glass jar and refrigerate.

Nutrition Facts:

Amount Per Serving
Calories 43.9
Total Fat 2.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.3 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 113.1 mg
Potassium 20.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 5.6 g
Dietary Fiber 0.2 g
Sugars 5.1 g
Protein 0.1 g

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14 Responses to “Curry Pineapple Vinaigrette”

  1. 1

    janet @ the taste space — April 24, 2012 @ 7:52 am Reply

    I have been all about the dressings lately, as well. One batch lasts all week! Looks great, Cara!

  2. 2

    Emily @ A Cambridge Story — April 24, 2012 @ 8:02 am Reply

    Mmm this is a seriously delicious looking dressing! I hear you on staying busy when at home – I’ve been studying a lot more at home recently and there are definitely way more dog outings than ever!

  3. 3

    Ranjani — April 24, 2012 @ 11:29 am Reply

    Making the bed is way overrated. It just gets messed up again anyway. Your dressing and salad sounds wonderful! I need to get more creative with my salads…

  4. 4

    Justine @ Life With Cheeseburgers — April 24, 2012 @ 11:47 am Reply

    Ha. I’m not working right now because I just graduated and my hubby and I are moving out of state…so every day it’s an internal debate as to whether I should put on makeup or not. I usually do try to dress nice, even when I’m at home, because it just makes me feel better!

  5. 5

    Alisa — April 24, 2012 @ 2:26 pm Reply

    I always make single-serve dressings! I don’t know why, I just never make a large batch. Love this flavor idea! Champagne vinegar isn’t someting I keep on hand, but I’ll definitely trial it with another vinegar.

  6. 6

    Julia — April 24, 2012 @ 3:02 pm Reply

    I’ll never be an engineer of any sort, but a wanna be full-time blogger/freelancer/e-book writer, I have that gig NAILED!
    Love this dressing! Can’t wait to see all the fun stuff coming up in your future 😉

  7. 7

    Ricki — April 24, 2012 @ 4:26 pm Reply

    Dressing really does make the salad, doesn’t it? This one sounds fabulous. And welcome to the work-from-home club! Showers? SO overrated (especially when you can be walking the dog!) 😀

  8. 8

    Joanne — April 24, 2012 @ 9:07 pm Reply

    I have to admit, one of the major reasons I don’t have salads more often is how much I HATE taking the time to whip up salad dressing. I’ll spend one hour cooking something but hte five minutes it takes to make dressing…seems seriously onerous. But this pineapple vinaigrette is MORE than just dressing. im’ pretty sure it’ll be revelatory. Worth it.

  9. 9

    Dawn — April 24, 2012 @ 9:34 pm Reply

    So proud of you for making these amazing dressings now! Gosh I can’t believe it’s been a month….

  10. 10

    Ellen (Gluten Free Diva) — April 25, 2012 @ 9:55 am Reply

    Don’t bother making the bed. You’re just gonna mess it up when you get in it again:). Oh, and what time is lunch? I’ll bring some homemade Gluten Free & Grain Free homemade flatbread to go with that salad if you make it again today, which based on your creature-of-habit comment, I imagine you might be doing!

  11. 11

    Kate — April 25, 2012 @ 11:30 am Reply

    Funny – I just made a pineapple honey vinaigrette last night! We must be sharing a wavelength again.

  12. 12

    Shannon — April 25, 2012 @ 12:10 pm Reply

    ha, i often use hummus as my salad “dressing”… not only b/c i love it, but also because making dressing isn’t at the top of my list 😉 this sounds absolutely fantastic though!!

  13. 13

    Julia {The Roasted Root} — April 25, 2012 @ 4:54 pm Reply

    Hey lady, I found your site off TasteSpotting…love your site! Your curry vinaigrette looks awesome – I love all of the flavors you put in there, so I will definitely make this tonight for a big salad. Good luck with all of your endeavors and I look forward to seeing more of your posts!

  14. 14

    Kerstin — April 28, 2012 @ 11:43 am Reply

    What a yummy and unique dressing – sounds delicious! And congrats on your decision to go for things full time!! So exciting Cara, I know you’ll be super successful! 🙂

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