Salad Dressing Archives - Page 2 of 3

Celeriac, Pear & Rocket Salad

Hello hello! Sorry for the rather sporadic posting as of late. I’ve been trying to get on top of life before a trip away so blogging time has sadly had to be limited. I’m actually writing from Geneva (!) where I’m attending a week-long conference as a translator. Nothing kicks off until tomorrow though so I thought I’d check back in here this evening.

I recently made this utterly delicious Provençale Celeriac Pâté from Elenore of Earthsprout. It was so tasty spread on Pura Vida raw bread with Dijon, capers and rocket salad that I was very tempted to make it again.

But I seem incapable of making recipes twice at the moment so instead I decided to take those flavours and reproduce them in a different form. This Celeriac, Pear & Rocket Salad is what came up with.

Do you remember my Simple Celeriac Soup? I’d been wanting to try celeriac raw since then, not expecting to be that impressed, but more for curiosity’s sake. But I was pleasantly surprised! It’s really lovely, though quite different to cooked celeriac and milder than celery ( for the many I’m sure who aren’t celery lovers). It doesn’t taste starchy in the slightest either so perfectly fine to eat raw.

As I’m a little smitten with pears right now I added one for some sweetness and it balanced up the strong Dijon and capers nicely.

Celeriac, Pear & Rocket Salad

2014-03-21 11:50:15

Serves 4

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Ingredients

1 Medium celeriac (peeled weight approx 400g/1lb)
2 Tbsp Lemon juice
1 Large firm pear
A few handfuls of rocket
2-3 Tbsp Capers

Dijon Vinaigrette

2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Coconut nectar (OR other liquid sweetener)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Peel the celeriac (using a sharp knife is the easiest way), thinly slice vertically then stack the slices and cut them into matchsticks. In a large bowl, toss the celeriac matchsticks with the lemon juice. This prevents them from browning.
Thinly slice the pear and add to the bowl.
Whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette and add to the celeriac and pear. Toss in a few large handfuls of rocket and stir well to coat everything.
Remove to a serving dish and top with the capers.

Notes

I recommend using a slightly unripe pear so it doesn't get mushy in the salad.

Coconut and Berries http://www.coconutandberries.com/

I’m submitting this recipe at the weekly link-up, Wellness Weekends.

Hopefully I’ve peaked your curiosity enough to get you to try celeriac raw, and not just covered in gloopy mayonnaise like the traditional French “céleri rémoulade“..

Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad with Baked Cashew Cheese

I get a lot of my cooking inspiration from restaurant menus, normally not vegan or even vegetarian restaurants. I love being able to take a dish containing animal products and make it vegan-it’s sort of my gentler way of putting two fingers up and saying “ha, I don’t need your animal products- I made your dish better- for us, the planet and the animals!”

This “Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad with Baked Cashew Cheese” is my take on the beetroot & goat’s cheese salad I’ve been seeing on menus all over the place.

Eliminating cheese is a doddle when you’ve got cashews, the magical nut! I usually use cashews for creamy sauces and spreads, but to replicate goat’s cheese’s crumbly texture I baked my blended mixture to dry it out, taking this recipe as my starting point.

I used the same recipe back in the summer for my Herby Courgette Galette recipe (Please excuse the terrible pictures, photography’s been a steep learning curve!) and learnt then that straining the cheese didn’t achieve much so I skipped that step this time.

Here’s what my little ramekin of cheese looked like out of the oven.

Baked Cashew Cheese

2014-07-18 06:59:16

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Ingredients

1/3 C (Heaped) Cashews, soaked, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Neutral Oil (I used Organic Sunflower)
1 Tbsp Water
1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C/350F
Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor or high-power blender for 5 minutes (This helps the cheese firm up so even if it’s smooth blend for the full amount of time).
Pour into a lined/oiled ramekin. Bake for approx 25 minutes, until firm on top and beginning to turn golden.
Remove from oven and let cool completely in the fridge.

Notes

*This makes twice the amount you need for the salad but it’s nice to use in other dishes too)

Adapted from C'est La Vegan

Coconut and Berries http://www.coconutandberries.com/

To turn this into a meal-worthy salad I bulked it up with roasted sweet potato chunks, some spicy rocket leaves and a scattering of toasted pine nuts. Simply delicious.

Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad with Baked Cashew Cheese

Yield: 2-3 Servings

Ingredients

3 Medium-size Beetroot
2 Medium-size Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 2” chunks
1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Sprig of Thyme
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
3/4 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1-1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Parsley, coarsely chopped
Handful of Rocket leaves
Salt & Pepper
2 Tbsp Pine Nuts OR walnuts, toasted
50g/2oz/1/2 Recipe Cashew Cheese (See Above), crumbled

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F
I like to roast beetroot using the tin-foil method. Alternatively, if you want to avoid getting messy, you can also use the pre-cooked kind (usually found in vacuum packs).
Drizzle sweet potato chunks with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and spread in a roasting pan with the thyme. Roast for approx 25 minutes, until soft and golden.
Meanwhile, whisk mustard, vinegar and olive oil together for the dressing.
Peel and chop cooked, peeled beetroot into chunks the same size as the sweet potato.
In a large bowl, toss the beetroot and sweet potato with the dressing. Add the parsley and rocket, salt and pepper to taste and toss again. (You can either wait until the roasted vegetables are cool to do this or eat the salad warm, in which case the rocket will wilt).
Remove to a serving dish and top with the toasted pine nuts and crumbled cashew cheese.

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2013/11/02/beetroot-sweet-potato-salad-with-baked-cashew-cheese/

I’m submitting this recipe to the weekly link-ups: Wellness Weekends and Healthy Vegan Fridays

Have you successfully veganized any dishes you’ve seen on restaurant menus? Or have you got any you’d like to challenge me to veganize?!

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway! 3 free codes for the Vegan Delish app to win!

Sign up for email updates and join me elsewhere: I’m on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram (@coconutandberries), Google + and Twitter!

Raw Foods for Winter

Now, if you’re anything like me, you might well be thinking that raw food isn’t particularly suitable for winter and cold weather. We’re naturally drawn to warming, comforting foods at this time of year, and my associations of crisp, fresh, raw salads just didn’t fit into this picture. Nevertheless, at this time of year we’re all extra susceptible to getting ill and it’s now when we need to be taking extra good care of ourselves and eating the most nutritious foods possible. Raw food is just that!

So, how to make raw meals that are just as warming and comforting as our cooked favourites?

That’s where Tanya comes in.

Tanya Alekseeva is one of the UK’s leading raw food chefs and educators and blogs over at better raw. If you haven’t met her yet, definitely read her amazing story of transformation.

Tanya’s e-book “Nourished - Comforting Raw Food Recipes for Winter” addresses the issue of eating raw in winter, with lots of useful info and recipes.

- It’s a full-colour book with pictures of all the recipes, along with step-by-step instructions. It’s always nice to know what you’re aiming for!

- The book’s got you covered for drinks, breakfasts, sauces, sides, snacks, meals and desserts. There are some real show-stoppers in here which I think would be especially fantastic to serve to guests, along with dishes ideal for everyday eating.

- It includes some great tips for eating raw when it’s chilly out, many I hadn’t thought of, but which make such a big difference.

- There’s also a guide to local and seasonal produce and recommended equipment for a raw kitchen.

Note, most of the recipes don’t require specialist equipment and if you’ve got a good knife, a blender and/or food processor you’ll be able to make most. About a quarter do call for a dehydrator though, something I don’t own (yet…), so I couldn’t make these, slightly torturous as they all looked really good. If you do have a dehydrator you’ll definitely want this book!

- Particularly handy if you’re new to raw food, there’s also a glossary of ingredients you might be unfamiliar with.

You can find a full list of the recipes included and more pictures here, but this is what I made:

First up, I tried the Apple & Cinnamon Chia Pudding. This was a really tasty, light breakfast. It’s creamy, mildly-spiced and sweet, even with only fruit to sweeten it. I would probably add less almond milk next time though as I like my chia pudding a little thicker.

I really wanted to try one of the main-dishes from the book but struggled to make a decision with so many options. Lots of the recipes might sound like conventional dishes: “burgers”, “ noodles” “mash”” “pie” and “curry”, but they’re probably not what you’re expecting! Tanya’s given these traditional dishes a raw make-over, but their healthiness definitely doesn’t compromise their flavour.

I decided to put together a few of the recipes for a meal with some serious wow-factor. Here we have the “Winter Sun Burgers”, “Tangy Cabbage Salad” and “Ranch Dressing”. The burgers were rich and flavourful. They’re very easy to make too, just a few ingredients and a food processor is all you need. I’m already planning on using the same mixture and blending it up a little more and using it as a dip

The cabbage gets jazzed up with a yummy raspberry vinaigrette (Tanya suggests using frozen berries if they’re not in season where you live).

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the ranch dressing was absolutely incredible! I could have eaten this stuff with a spoon! I’m definitely going to be making it regularly. Note: there wasn’t any water listed in the ingredients and I found I needed to add some to get a smooth, pourable consistency. I also subbed tamari for the liquid aminos listed as I didn’t have any.

A perfectly satisfying meal, and I didn’t miss hot food at all.

The last of the recipes I tried was the “Spiced Hot Chocolate”. This was creamy and indulgent-tasting, and it would have been hard to believe it was healthy if I hadn’t made it myself. You can still have warm food eating raw, just as long as you don’t heat foods above a certain temperature which is thought to damage their nutrients. Blending all the ingredients on high with some hot water made this plenty warm enough, and the kick of cayenne added extra heat.

(Pictured above with store-bought raw oatmeal-raisin cookies)

Tanya has kindly allowed me to re-print the recipe here for you all to enjoy.

Spiced Hot Chocolate:

1C Almonds, soaked overnight
4C Pure water (2C cold, 2C hot)
½C Pitted dates
¼ avocado
2T Raw cacao powder
1T Agave nectar
¾t Cayenne pepper

Rinse the nuts, drain and blend with 2 cups cold water.

Strain the liquid through a nut milk bag/cheese cloth/stocking to remove the pulp. Pour the strained milk back into blender and add the rest of ingredients including the hot water, blend on high. Enjoy immediately.

Serves 3

The next recipes I want to try are the Pecan Pie Shake, “Never Miss Meat” Stroganov, Root Veggie Satay Noodles…and the Traditional Apple Crumble with Vanilla Sauce! You can get your hands on the book instantly by downloading it from Tanya’s website, better raw, here.

I know it’s only October, but December will be here before we know it! Tanya’s book of raw Christmas recipes- “Festive”, is one I’m definitely considering. There are always so many parties and social events at this time of year, not usually involving the healthiest of foods, but with these recipes you’ll be well-equipped to wow friends and family with healthy and delicious raw alternatives.

You might want to check out Tanya’s other e-books:

“Purified - Your Complete 7 Day Detox Program” and “Seduced - Raw Chocolate Recipes to Get Very Excited For”

If you’re in the UK you might also be interested in the workshops Tanya runs in London- coming up very soon, with just a few spots left are the Comforting Raw Foods for Winter Workshop (THIS Saturday 25th October) and the Raw Food Christmas Festivities Workshop (7th December).

Do you try and incorporate raw food into your diet? I’d love to hear your thoughts about raw food in general.

Note: I was provided with a copy of the book for review purposes, but all opinions expressed are my own.

Butternut & Lentil Salad with Tahini Dressing

T is for…Tahini!

Oh the trials and tribulations of food blogging! I made this dish last night but since I didn’t realize the time and got started on dinner too late, the light had gone by the time it was ready so I couldn’t get any good pictures My apologies but this is definitely a repeater recipe so when I make it again I’ll update the post.

Repeater recipes are, in fact, rare around these parts, quite simply because I love to try new things and there aren’t enough meals in the day to allow me to eat the same thing over and over. This, however, is one of my all-time favourite meals and I’ve made variations on it many a time.

Tahini sauce has got to be one of the best things ever. I know many of you agree…

Drizzled (liberally) over sweet roasted squash and perhaps my favourite legume, puy lentils, it’s bound to be good.

The original recipe came from the Casa Moro Cookbook (Moro is a wonderful restaurant in London if every you get to visit. The dishes are Spanish, North African and Eastern Mediterranean inspired, and, although it’s not vegetarian, normally there are various veg or adaptable dishes on the menu) but I came across it on the blog Orangette a few years ago and and have adapted it to my tastes. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Warm Butternut & Lentil Salad with Tahini Dressing:

1/2 Medium Butternut Squash (Approx 400g/1lb), cut into large chunks
1/2T Olive oil
2 Cloves garlic, squashed with the flat edge of a knife
Large pinch of salt
1/8t Cinnamon
1/2C Puy Lentils
1C Vegetable Broth
1/4 Red onion, finely diced
Fresh parsley to serve, coarsely chopped

Tahini Dressing:

1 Small clove of garlic, minced
Pinch of salt
1 3/4T Lemon juice
1 1/2T Tahini
2T Water (depending on thickness of your tahini)
1t Maple syrup

Preheat oven to 200C/425F

Toss squash, smashed garlic, olive oil, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl until all coated in the oil. Spread mixture into a roasting dish and cook for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through and edges are beginning to caramelize. Set aside.

While squash is cooking, simmer the lentils, in the vegetable broth, covered with a lid, for approx 20 minutes, or cook according to your package instructions. Drain if any liquid remains and set aside.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients, adding more or less water to reach your desired thickness

Stir the red onion into the lentils and add several grinds of pepper.

Spread lentils onto a serving platter, top with the roasted squash (remove garlic cloves), a generous drizzle of the tahini sauce and chopped parsley. Hold a little of the tahini sauce on the side, for dressing at the table.

Serves 2

PRINT RECIPE HERE

Of course, I use tahini for many other things than just this salad. Tahini sauce is great on almost anything. It’s commonly served with falafel. Rather than a falafel wrap I like to top a big salad with a few falafel balls and then douse in tahini sauce. I also love it on roasted beetroot, dark leafy greens or steamed broccoli.

These Tahini Noodles sound really delicious to me too. Of course tahini can be used in sweet recipes too. It’s great as an alternative to peanut butter, spread on a banana for a snack, or try these Raw Chocolate Caramel Tahini Delights.

Of course I love my own Chocolate-Sesame Biscotti too.

Even though it’s Saturday tomorrow and this month I haven’t been posting at weekends, check back here as I hope to bring you a post for the letter “U” to get through the last of the letters in the alphabet for my A-Z series.

Baby Leaf, Apple & Sunflower Seed Salad with Miso-Lemon Dressing

Sunflower Seeds!

I chose sunflower seeds for “S” more to push myself than for any other reason. We all fall back on our staple ingredients, and sunflower seeds are not one of mine. Cashews, almonds and more recently, hemp seeds, are my most used nuts/seeds, tending to overshadow the humble sunflower seed. After this month I hope to take heed of my advice and make the most of the variety in my pantry.

As well as being just as versatile and nutritious as other nuts and seeds out there, sunflower seeds are one of the cheapest. A particular bonus for someone like me, who likes to think of themselves as rather frugal…!

Over here sunflower seeds are normally seen hulled but I know that in other countries they’re especially popular roasted in their shells, salted, and eaten as a snack.

The way I normally eat them is as a salad-topper for a little crunch and a nutrition boost and came up with a simple side or starter salad for today’s post.

I knew I wanted to include apple in my salad since we were given these gorgeous ones from a neighbour. The same kind neighbour who gave us the plums!

Aren’t they pretty? I love how pink they are, even the flesh has a pinkish hue as if the colour from the skin has somehow seeped into it.

This is really quick to put together so ideal for when you want a salad to go with your main meal but more than just some unadorned greens. I used a mix of baby leaves for the base, added some very thinly sliced red onion, slivers of apple and a generous handful of sprouted sunflower seeds. I like to sprout seeds and legumes as I like their fresh, crisp taste and it also makes their nutrients more bio-available (see here for more info and a handy guide to sprouting) but toasted, or even just raw seeds would still be tasty.

I dressed the salad with a miso-lemon dressing which was a nice slightly salty, tangy contrast to the sweet apple.

Babyleaf, Apple + Sunflower Seed Salad with Miso-Lemon Dressing:

2 Generous handfuls of Baby leaves (or mild greens like spinach or pea-shoots)
1 Medium dessert apple, thinly sliced
3T Sunflower seeds (sprouted, toasted or raw)
1/4 Red onion, very thinly sliced

Miso-Lemon Dressing:

1T Lemon juice
1/2T White miso
1/2T Olive oil
1/2t Tamari
Pepper

Whisk together the lemon juice and miso until completely smooth then add the other ingredients and whisk to emulsify.

In a large bowl toss the salad leaves with as much dressing as it needs (add it slowly as you don’t want it to be soggy and you probably won’t want all of it)

Plate the salad: Place a layer of leaves on the plate(s), then scatter over the red onion and seeds. Finally, arrange the apple slices on top.

Serves 1-2

PRINT RECIPE HERE

As usual, I’m sharing some of the sunflower seed recipes I’ve come across which appeal to me or that I’ve made an enjoyed:

Firstly something sweet from The Kitchn: Sunflower-Date Raw Cookies

This Broccoli Raisin Sunflower Seed Salad is a favourite

Sunflower seeds are soft, so, after a soak, blend up well. They are a nice, cheaper alternative to cashews in vegan, creamy sauces like this Creamy Herb Sunflower Dressing/Dip. This recipe also uses them, along with cashews, to make a sour cream of sorts, then swirled into black bean soup. I’ve made this one and can vouch for its yumminess!

2 more dips/spreads I want to try are: this Super-Simple Gingery Sunflower Seed Paté and this Raw Carrot, Almond and Sunflower Seed Paté

I am loving Vegan MoFo but it’s leaving me no kitchen time at all for trying all the wonderful creations from other bloggers and my cookbooks. The creativity around the blogosphere this month has been so phenomenal that I’m amassing a rather overwhelming number of recipes too!

Have you picked up any great recipes, tips or info this month?