Sometimes Simpler is Better

If you were to look in my refrigerator at the side door shelves filled with bottles of salad dressing, you might get the impression that my family is big on eating salads. Sadly, that's not the case and out of all those bottles of salad dressing, my husband and daughter use only two kinds - Italian and Ranch. I'm the one that's always trying different dressings, tempted by the dizzying array of bottles in the grocery store, only to end up disappointed once I get it home and on my salad. Now, I have to admit to having very simple tastes when it comes to salad. For me, it's some type of lettuce mix featuring iceberg and shredded carrots, a cucumber and tomatoes. That's it. Nothing fancy. So when it comes to salad dressing, it has to be one that can really add some flavor to my somewhat bland salad. That's why I was so excited when I was chosen as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program to receive a coupon for a free bottle of Marzetti Simply Dressed refrigerated Salad Dressing. The only problem was - I couldn't find it in any of my local grocery stores. Apparently I wasn't the only person with that problem because it wasn't long after I emailed the Foodbuzz people to let them know that I couldn't find it that I received an email from them informing me I'd be receiving a sample bottle delivered to my door.
I received a bottle of the Simply Dressed Ranch - a good choice for my Ranch dressing family -  and put together one of my usual salads and topped it with my new dressing. According to the material I received with the salad dressing, "Simply Dressed  salad dressings are made with a minimal number of all-natural and simple ingredients such as olive oil, canola oil and sea salt." It has no preservatives, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, MSG or artificial flavors or colors. In short, it's the salad dressing I would make if I made salad dressing. The Ranch dressing had just the right balance of sweet and salty and it made my little salad just sit up and take notice. I checked the Marzetti web site and found a host of recipes using the different Simply Dressed salad dressings. I found one for the Ranch dressing for a stuffed portabello mushroom that sounds just yummy and I'll probably try to make that sometime this week. I don't know though - my little salad might just get jealous.