NOTE: The following is a sponsored review of Kraft Pourables fruit & veg salad dressings. The opinions expressed in this post are that of the author and are in no way influenced by Kraft or other companies involved.
As someone who prefers to “make” her own salad dressing out of oil and vinegar, I was actually fairly hesitant to try packed dressings at first. I’ve always felt that salad dressing was only to enhance the salad’s flavour, not to overpower it, but for something different, I decided to give Kraft Pourables a chance. These salad dressings, which include real fruits and vegetables in its ingredients, come in four different flavours (Garlic Parmesan with Roasted Cauliflower, Fire Roasted Tomato with Basil, Roasted Yellow Pepper, Garlic and Lime and Berry Balsamic) and are low in sodium and fat. They have no artificial flavours or colours and are between 25-30 calories per serving (about a tablespoon). In addition to using it as a salad dressing, it can also used to cook or as dips. I made two dishes, using two different dressings, and all four were tested on a standard green salad.
Beef and broccolini stir fry with sweet potato and buckwheat noodles, made with Kraft Pourables Garlic Parmesan with Roasted Cauliflower dressing
The beef, onion and broccolini stir fry, served with noodles, was definitely enhanced by the Garlic Parmesan with Roasted Cauliflower dressing, giving it a fusion flavour (no soya sauce was used to marinate the meat – just some additional herbs) and the Fire Roasted Tomato with Basil was a wonderful addition to roast chicken breast (side: rapini and onion rainbow quinoa). On the salad side, all four were were tried out by both myself and my husband. The dressings were all sampled on the side rather than directly on the salad itself so that the dressings would not interfere with each other.
Roasted chicken breast (cooked with Kraft Pourables Fire Roasted Tomato with Basil dressing)
While we disagreed on which one was the ultimate favourite (we both felt that Fire Roasted Tomato worked very well on both the salad and cooking sides, but I slightly preferred the Garlic Parmesan (cooking) while he liked the Fire Roasted Tomato for both) we both noted that the fruitier Berry Balsamic was on our “miss” list. The sweetness of the dressing was a little bit too strong for our palate, but it might work on others. For me, anyway the best fruity salads are enhanced by fresh fruits and a very light vinegar-based dressing. The remaining dressing I received, Roasted Yellow Pepper, Garlic and Lime, was my second favourite on the salad side. A few drops of this dressing also worked very well to help enhance the quinoa after it is cooked.
While these dressings were excellent on green salads, I’m still an oil and vinegar gal. Cooking or usage on other types on other types of salads or sides, however, is something else all together.
