Raspberry vinaigrette has a lot of flexibility. It's a great way to spruce up any spring salad, especially alongside crumbled cheeses, fruits and nuts. But, it's also useful as a glaze for meats or a topping for ice cream, or to sprinkle over cooked vegetables. Our panelists are fans of the dressing, although a couple allowed they cut it with vinegar and olive oil when drizzling the dressing on salads. We tasted eight brands of bottled vinaigrettes.
Kathy Saunders, Times correspondent
| Product/Score (out of 100) | Ken's Light Options Raspberry Walnut 71 | Market Pantry 56 | Annie's Naturals Lite 54 |
| Judges' comments | Very dark color, bits of seeds and pulp made this dressing "wickedly good," according to one judge. Another described it as a "deep, sweet, tasty brew," saying he would use the dressing for grilling chicken or fish. Ken's dressing had a great balance of sweet and savory flavors and plenty of texture to work in a variety of dishes. | Target's store brand was loaded with poppy seeds that gave the blend an appealing texture. The color was paler than some of the competition. "This has a sweet, actual raspberry scent and flavor and looks especially delicious when you give the bottle a nice shake to mix it all up," said one judge. Another said he would cut this dressing with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil to make an attractive and delicious salad topping. | Judges said Annie's dressing was "bright and festive." One said, "I would love to toss this in a bowl of spring mix." Another judge said the dressing had "a faithful raspberry flavor." The panelists especially liked the balance of the sweet and tart tastes, saying this would be a really good dressing for grilling. "It almost tastes like a fruit smoothie or something you might like to see in the middle layer of a fruit yogurt," said one judge. |
| Would they buy? | Three of the four judges said yes. | Three of the four judges said yes. | Two of the four judges said yes. |
| Shopping information | $1.52 for a 9-ounce bottle from Target. | $1.49 for a 16-ounce bottle from Target. | $2.49 for an 8-ounce bottle from Target. |
Panelists: Bob Devin Jones, artistic director of Studio@620; Jeff Jensen, public information officer for the city of Treasure Island; John Hehn, foodie & owner of All Brite Lighting & Power Design Inc.; and Laura Reiley, Times food critic. All foods were tasted blind.
Send suggestions for product testing to: Taste section, Tampa Bay Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731 or email them to jkeeler@tampabay.com. Please put TEST SUGGESTION in the subject line. To read past Taster's Choice columns, go to tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/tastetest.
| Serving size | Two tablespoons | Two tablespoons | Two tablespoons |
| Calories | 60 | 50 | 40 |
| Fat/Fiber | 3.5g / 0g | 3.5g / 0g | 3g / 0g |
| Sugars/Sodium | 6g / 180mg | 5g / 240mg | 6g / 180mg |
| Carbs/Protein | 6g / 0g | 5g / 0g | 4g / 0g |
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