Molly Patrick-Style Caesar Dressing

A few years back I was an ardent follower of Molly Patrick's cleanfooddirtygirl.com. This recipe is one that I have been making ever since. Find the original recipe post from Molly's website HERE. (If you like what you read here, check out some of her other posts.  Especially if you enjoy irreverance and charm all wrapped into one delightful post!) 

I've made this dressing often.  Perfect for my salads but also delicious as a veggie dip and drizzled on top of my favorite pasta dish...like an Alfredo.  I have it memorized but best that I note it here in my food blog for future reference. Seems I have a faulty wire in my recall ability.

Here ya' go, Molly's Caesar Dressing Recipe:

• 1/2 cup raw cashews soaked in water for at least 10 minutes 
• 2 small-ish garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vegan worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon dulse flakes or powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water

1. Drain and rinse the cashews (discard the soaking water) and place them in your blender, along with the rest of the dressing ingredients (garlic cloves, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire, lemon juice, dulse, Dijon mustard, salt and water) and blend until super creamy, about a minute.
2. If you have a nut allergy or want a lower fat version use 1/2 cup tofu (100g) instead of cashews.

I have made this dressing without the dulse flakes and it still takes good.  I've made it using powdered garlic when I was out of fresh or garlic in a jar.  I've made it with yellow mustard when there was no Dijon.  Swap when you need to.  Yes, it will alter the original flavor mix, but it will still taste creamy.

Enjoy!

Fresh Broccoli Salad with Orange & Cashew Dressing

I have been eating so much frozen broccoli, quick cooked in the microwave, I have forgotten what a delicious treat it is eaten raw in a salad.  While shopping for kale and nooch at Whole Foods last week, I looked at their salads in the deli case.  They were beautiful and the broccoli salad gave me some ideas I wanted to try out at home.  Here's the recipe I came up with.  You can add and subtract, tweak and twack anyway you like.  The only thing I would add next time around, is a few cutie *tangerines, peeled, sectioned and thrown in the mix.  The extra splash of orange would work nicely on all levels.

Here's what you'll need:

One large head of fresh broccoli (clean and break into small florets - I used the stems, peeling the tough outer skin and then thin slicing the more tender stalks - picture above shows only the cleaning and large pieces, not the finished small florets)

the Dressing:

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (one orange)  Note:  I used some zest from this orange and it's easier to zest an orange peel BEFORE you squeeze it for juice.  So get a good teaspoon or more of the zest before you juice it)

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup raw cashews (soak in water for 1-4 hours, drain off water before adding to blender)

Blend dressing ingredients and pour over small broccoli florets.  Add pepper to taste and some orange zest and toss well!

If you have time to refrigerate for an hour or two before serving, this tastes even better after it's marinated in the dressing.

Toppings:

1-2 T. raisins, dried blueberries or cranberries.  Or a bit of all three.

1-2 T. slivered or chopped almonds (the first time I made it I used raw sunflower seeds)

1 t. sesame seeds

*1-2 tangerines, peeled, sectioned and each section cut in half, optional

more pepper to taste (I can never have enough pepper)

Add your toppings right before you are getting ready to serve up.  Give the salad one final toss and you're ready to serve up!

Yummers!

Not Your Grandma's Potato Salad

4 small baked **red potatoes, skin on, cut into cubes

2 cups cooked cauliflower florets (you can use an entire head of cauliflower in this recipe.  I have.   It still tastes like potato salad.)

Boil, bake or microwave (I nuke for speediness) the potatoes and cauliflower until done, whichever you prefer.  Keep a window open or a fan on in the kitchen since cooking  cauliflower  has its own special aroma.  This salad tastes great WARM.

Instead of the traditional mayonnaise (nope, not even veganaise)--- I add only spicy brown mustard, a few shakes of white wine vinegar, fresh ground pepper, parsley flakes and a pinch of garlic powder to the warm potato mixture.  Toss well!

Add chopped onion (1/2 cup) red (or green or both) bell pepper (one whole, chopped), dill pickles (just one large or two small, chopped), grated carrots (1/2 cup),  black olives (about 10, chopped), and 1-2 cups baby spinach leaves, sliced thin (this is not pictured in the collage above).  *Optional addition:  sprouted lentils (steamed for a minute or two before adding) or alfalfa sprouts.

Blend in all ingredients. Taste and add more mustard or vinegar if you need more ‘zest.’  Salad tastes great warm…and very good for leftovers.  I’m guessing there will not be much ‘leftover.’

YUMMERS!


**I have used all kinds of potatoes for this recipe.  I like the small red but the Yukon Gold and Idaho spuds are also delish.

Spinach Salad

Salad:

Baby Spinach leaves
1-1/2 c. sliced strawberries
1 pear (or apple), cored and sliced
1-2 T. dried *blueberries
1-2 T. chopped *almonds

Dressing:

1/4 - 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
4-5 fresh strawberries
juice from one squeezed lime or lemon

Add salad ingredients to your blender and mix for about 30 seconds.

Drizzle dressing over salad and serve up.

Makes one nice serving :-)  or two, if you feel you have to share.

Ohsoyummers!

*If you don't have the blueberries or almonds, use any small amount of dried fruit as an exchange, such as, raisins, currants, cranberries, chopped dried plums or apricots.
*I frequently switch out walnuts or pecans for the almonds.

Purple Cabbage Salad

Some of my best creations have come about when I was running out of food in the pantry and fridge.  Using what I had on hand, I threw together these few simple ingredients.  Now they are on my 'keep stocked' list.  It taste great freshly made and served up at once or keeps well in the fridge for a day or two if you don't mind a well-marinated flavor.

Here's all you need:

purple cabbage, cleaned and thinly sliced or chopped

cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in half

1/2 ripe avocado, chopped

juice from one lime

balsamic vinegar

lemon pepper seasoning

1-2 T. sliced almonds (add to the individual salad servings instead of mixing in with the salad)

Toss together cabbage, cherry tomatoes and avocado.  Squeeze your fresh lime over the salad and toss well so that all your cabbage is coated with the lime juice.  Sprinkle entire salad with balsamic vinegar to taste.  I use approx. 1/4 to 1/2 cup for a head of cabbage.  Season with lemon pepper or other favorite salad spices and serve.  Sprinkle small amount of chopped or sliced nuts to your individual serving of salad.

Store your leftovers and eat with the next couple of days.  

Ohsoyummersandgoodforyou!

Do you like easy to follow Snapguide tutorials?  Find this same recipe HERE

Favorite winter fruit salad

I like my pineapple chunky, from the can, in its own juice. I use some juice in the salad and reserve some for my morning Emerald Elixir smoothie.  By all means, use fresh pineapple if you prefer!

Tangerine Cuties are abundant at this time of year.  I peel them, pull apart the sections, remove any seeds and cut each section into thirds.

I like my grapes purple and seedless and cut them in half.

I buy only unsweetened coconut, prefer my almonds unsalted and I use very few dried cranberries--just enough so I get one or two in every bite.  If I have an orange on hand, I zest it and squeeze some of the orange juice over the entire batch of mixed fruit.

Making extra of this salad is a good idea!  Keep it in a sealed container in the refrigerator to have on hand for any time of the day or evening.  Perfect dessert or for that time you desire just a little something 'sweet.'

ENJOY!