Salad dressing has gotten a bad rap. Yes, there are salad dressings that aren't good for you —anything creamy has a lot of calories. And a lot of store bought dressings can have added sugar in them. But salad dressing can also be really good for you. If a dressing is made with olive oil then that's a fat that is actually good for your body.  In fact, the Mediterranean diet is all about eating healthy fats like olive oil and avocado and it has been proven to prevent cancer, heart disease and stroke. So here are my favorite salad dressings that are not only healthy, but delicious. 1. Oil and vinegar Honestly to me there is nothing better than a little oil and vinegar. I love to mix white balsamic vinegar with olive oil on a summer salad with berries and Parmesan cheese. And in the winter I mix balsamic vinegar with olive oil and a dash of Dijon mustard. I love this dressing on our Grilled Steak and Asparagus Salad. I try to make my dressings as simple as possible —the fewer ingredients, the less chance for extra sugar or preservatives. 2. Flavoured olive oil Flavoured olive oil is my new obsession. You can get so many delicious flavours like lime-infused or mushroom sage. It's so flavourful that you don't need to mix it with anything, it's a great dressing as is. If you're worried about calories, then this is the way to go because you're only putting one ingredient on your salad. I like to buy my oils and vinegars from The Unrefined Olive, a shop in Ottawa. They make so many delicious flavours and none of their vinegars have added dye in them! I like knowing what goes into the food I eat and it's comforting to know that the olive oil I'm using is Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 3. Add fruit and skip the dressing Salad dressings add flavour to salads, so why not skip the dressing and just add flavour to the actual salad. I love adding fruit to my salad. Yes, fruits have sugar in them but they are also packed with amazing nutrients. Berries are high in antioxidants. I love a salad with raspberries and blueberries. Mangoes are high in fiber and vitamins A and E. My favourite salad is mixed greens, mango, avocado and onion.  And I adore a salad with oranges, which contain potassium and vitamin C. So the next time you have salad you can deny yourself dressing without denying yourself flavour. What's your favourite healthy salad dressing? Photo courtesy of Little Greek/FlickrCC