Trio of Veggie-Based Dressings

Allow me to make a food-fashion analogy. Salad is like jeans and a t-shirt. Reliable, plain, maybe even a little boring. But just like you can add accessories to jeans and a t-shirt (a patterned scarf! big earrings! sparkles! a colourful belt! a parrot on your shoulder!) to spice up your basics, you can add accessories to your greens. I happily have a salad every single day, and it’s not because I’m one of those strange breeds of people who don’t need variety. Eating the same thing every day for me would be like telling a designer they could only ever use one colour. Salad greens are like a blank canvas that invite you to decorate it with colour, texture, and flavour.

Start with a few cups of salad greens and then go nuts with the possibilities. Add sugar snap peas, nuts and seeds, fresh berries, grated beets, roasted sweet potato or cauliflower, seaweeds like arame or nori, caramelized onions, sliced apples, thinly sliced red pepper or green onion, fresh herbs, sauerkraut or kimchi, sprouts, beans/lentils, shaved fennel, marinated artichokes, asparagus, good olives, radish cut in matchsticks, whole grains, grilled eggplant, avocado, or sweet cherry tomatoes. The options are truly endless

And then comes the dressing, the best food accessory of all. Most days I am an oil and vinegar type of girl, for the sake of convenience. However, I do enjoy a jazzy dressing. Here are three.

Parsley Picante Dressing*

1 cup parsley, chopped, loosely packed (cilantro works well too)

4 small green onions

1 green chili, seeds and stem removed

1 clove garlic

5 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

Asian Carrot Dressing*

1 large carrot, diced

1 inch knob of ginger

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp toasted sesame seed oil

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp tamari

1/4 tsp sea salt

Creamy Red Pepper Dressing*

1 red pepper, seeds and stem removed, coarsely chopped

3 Tbsp tahini

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp salt

*Directions for all three dressings are the same: Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend! (For the Asian Carrot dressing, you may need to steam the carrots first if your blender is not very strong)

Happy accessorizing
Take care,

Alex