THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996              TAG: 9604230098
SECTION: FLAVOR                   PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY BETTY DOUGLASS, SPECIAL TO FLAVOR 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   36 lines

DRESSED FOR DINNER DON'T DROWN YOUR SPRING SALADS IN GLOBS OF HEAVY DRESSING. LIGHTEN UP WITH THESE FLAVORED BLENDS.

SALAD DAYS are here again. With spring, our appetites lighten. Some of us look to shed a few winter pounds.

But many a healthful, low-calorie salad is nutritionally undermined by the addition of high-fat dressings.

To keep what's under our belts to a minimum, let us be mindful of what goes atop the salad.

A little fat in a dressing helps coat the lettuce, spinach or other greens so the other ingredients adhere to the leaves. Traditionally, however, more oil than vinegar or lemon juice has gone into most dressings.

Fortunately, we can reduce - and sometimes eliminate - the fat.

The recipes inside use a bit of oil, combined with flavored vinegars, herbs, nonfat yogurt, nonfat or low-fat sour cream, and spices, such as cumin cayenne, freshly ground black pepper and dry mustard. MEMO: Betty Douglass is a free-lance food writer and home economist in

Portsmouth. All recipes in this article have been kitchen-tested by the

author.

ILLUSTRATION: [Color] Photos By RICHARD L. DUNSTON

The Virginian-Pilot

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