Yes! There are!
Here is one I got from Joel Fuhrman.s book called 'the end of dieting'. The dressing is called Orange sesame dressing.
3 tablespoons unhulled sesame seeds, divided
¼ cup raw cashew nuts, or 2 tablespoons raw cashew butter 2 oranges, peeled
2 tablespoons blood orange or white wine vinegar
Orange juice, if needed to adjust consistency
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium high heat for 3 minutes, mixing with a wooden spoon and shaking the pan frequently. In a high-powered blender, combine 2 tablespoons of the sesame seeds and the cashews, oranges, and vinegar. If needed, add orange juice to adjust consistency. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon of sesame seeds on top of salad. Serving suggestion: Toss with mixed greens, tomatoes, red onions, and additional diced oranges or kiwi.
I've tried this out, it's really good! I didn't toast the seeds though. He has a bunch of recipes like this that taste great and don't have any empty calorie oils that add unnecessary fat with no nutrients to your body.
My favorite dressing is simple and doesn't take much time. I add lots of cracked pepper, Apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, and a couple dashes of Tabasco that tastes great to me!!
The biggest problem with salads for most people is the dressing. Every salad at TGI Friday's except for one has more calories that a burger fruits, and soda. Not good. For example, at the restaurant I work at now they have a blue cheese salad wedge. If you break it down calorically, there is maybe 20 kcal in the 1/4 head of iceberg lettuce, 40 kcal of tomatoes (both good high nutrient sources!), and then they dump at least 600 kcal if dressing, another 300 kcal of blue cheese crumbles (mostly empty calories), and another 100-200 kcal of bacon. In effect, you have a plate of 'food' that has ~1000 bad calories and only a mere 60 good, high nutrient calories. It's sad. I see people order that thinking they are making a healthy choice when in reality they are better off ordering fried fish+ chips, which tastes better and would have a very similar effect inside your Dr. Fuhrman would say what's the point of ordering that salad, you may as well just forget the lettuce and drink the blue cheese dressing straight from the bottle!
If you do decide to try blending vinegar and fruits up in a blender, add a little bit of nuts... they make it thick and creamy and it tastes awesome! Also, it's good to have a little bit of healthy fats with lots of veggies because it helps some of the fat soluble vitamins and nutrients get absorbed better during digestion.
Hope that helps!
