Kale & Artichoke Baba Ganoush Dip With Roasted Garlic

This all started with a recipe I saw for a vegan version of a spinach-artichoke dip. This particular one called for avocado instead of the cheese mixture. I made it and it was tasty, everyone loved it, but it is a cold dip, it was more like a different kind of guacamole. I'd definitely make it again. Anyway, the seed was planted to come up with something else that would be good warm and bubbly like the traditional spinach-artichoke dip.

Not long after that I ate at a Mediterranean restaurant and ordered some baba ganoush. As I was nibbling on it, it hit me... what could be more perfect than baba ganoush as a base for a warm, bubbly, vegan version of spinach-artichoke dip!? For those of you unfamiliar with baba ganoush, it is a dip like hummus but instead of chick peas as the base, they use roasted eggplant. It is creamy and gooey, great cold or warm. So, the idea was born and I couldn't wait to create it! For this version I switched the spinach for kale since that is what I had on hand, but either spinach or kale would be delicious!

Kale & Artichoke, Baba Ganoush Dip:
1 large roasted egg plant
4 steamed artichoke hearts
1/2 bunch of steamed kale (more if desired)
1 head of roasted garlic
3-4 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon- juice only
Himalayan salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
capers, a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper and drizzle of olive oil for garnish if desired

Directions:
This takes a little time to prepare, but overall is a very easy. Start by roasting the eggplant whole for 45 min to an hour. No need to wrap it or anything. I like to use my toaster oven to roast them, it's nice to not have to heat up the entire big oven for one eggplant. When done, the skin should look wrinkly and peel off easily. Also put the entire head of garlic, peel and all in to roast at the same time as the eggplant. After getting these started, prepare the artichokes for steaming and de-stem the kale for steaming. It will take about 30-40 minutes for the artichokes, 20 mins for the kale. After everything is done cooking, you may want to allow it to cool for a few minutes to make it easier to handle.

Once the veggies have cooled a bit, add the eggplant and peeled garlic to your high speed blender. The roasted eggplant should have a kind of slimy texture. Blend for 2-3 minutes until it is really creamy. Add in the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and blend for another minute or two or until everything is mixed well. Add in the kale and blend a little bit to leave it slightly chunky. Add in the artichokes hearts last and pulse a couple times to blend it and chop it just a bit.

You can then put this in a glass baking dish and warm it in the oven until it is slightly bubbly before serving. Enjoy this with blue corn tortillas, gluten-free crackers or veggies! Serves 8-10. Great for a party or get together!

GF, Summer Ranch Veggie Appetizer Pizza

It's been a while since I have posted anything new. I was pretty busy the last couple months with my trip back home to Michigan to visit family and friends. I came back in the beginning of July but I brought my son with me. We did plenty of cooking but I didn't want to take time away from him to work on my blog. So, he is finally gone, and of course I am pretty sad. But I feel fortunate that I got to spend the last two months with him! So, anyway, now I can get back to my blogging!

Simple Raw Homemade Horseradish Sauce

I was in the grocery store wandering through the produce section when I came across some horseradish root. It looks a bit like a parsnip root. I love horseradish sauces, for dipping, in sandwich spreads and for wasabi.

Oil Free Raspberry Vinaigrette

When making a salad with nuts or other fats, sometimes it's nice to pair it with an oil free dressing. You need healthy fats, they help you absorb the fat soluble vitamins in your veggies, but if you are putting nuts on your salad, then you are getting plenty of fats. You don't have to have any oil in your dressing especially when you can make a delicious oil free dressing.

Sweet & Spicy Thai Coconut-Peanut Dressing

I was down to my last fresh goodies before I go shopping again and pondering how I would make my salad for dinner. Spring lettuce mix, carrots, celery, purple cabbage, and, hmm. apples. And yes, you guessed it, ANOTHER salad dressing recipe! As many salads as I eat, I need to keep it interesting! So most of the time, I start each salad fresh. And I only make enough dressing to last me for about 2-3 salads. This works because one, they are fresh and won't last as long as the store bought ones, and two, I like to change things up frequently and I love getting creative and trying new recipes!

Purple Rainbow Salad with Orange-Ginger Poppy Seed Dressing

I was excited to finally make my first trip to Hoover's Market, which is about an hour away, but I wasn't nearly as excited as when I saw their fresh organic produce section... not to mention their bulk section and all the other healthy goodies! I am lucky to belong to a good local organic co-op which allows me access to a large variety of produce. But at Hoover's, they had all the things I had been wanting and more! I came home with a load of produce, my fridge was almost bulging! This will have to be a once a month trip.

Tomato-Herb Cannellini Dip

I saw a post on a recipe for hummus. I have made my own in the past, this one called for smoked paprika and yum! I had never thought of using smoked paprika in a bean dip. Anyhow I went to make some hummus and realized that I did not have any chick peas. What I did have was cannellini beans.

Creamy Almond "Ranch" Dressing

I like to switch up my dressings frequently since I eat so many salads. I love salads and I have always loved a good ranch dressing. Almonds are loaded with essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin E, manganese, magnesium not to mention the protein and fiber. They make a great base for a "ranch" dressing instead of dairy. Here are some nutrition facts on almonds.

Spicy Cranberry BBQ Tempeh

I realized the other day that I had a couple of bags of fresh-frozen cranberries that my mom sent home with me. I pulled one out to defrost and was planning on making some dried cranberries. As I let them defrost something else popped into my head... and I had a new mission.

Creamy Coconut Cilantro Lime Dressing

I eat a lot of salads, no surprise there I'm sure! I have my favorite dressings, one being my homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and I will get on a kick for days wanting the same dressing. But I love changing things up after that. Before I became vegan, another one of my favorites was a cilantro ranch dressing. So I have been on a quest to come up with a healthy, vegan creamy garlic-herb dressing to replace that. And YUM! This dressing is everything I wanted it to be, creamy, thick, garlicy, herby with a mild hint of coconut! The ingredients that make this work are the hemp seeds and the fresh Thai coconut meat. They blend up smooth and creamy!

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing:
1/8 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup fresh young Thai coconut water
1/4 cup fresh young Thai coconut meat
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 small garlic clove
1 small lime juiced
3-4 sprigs fresh cilantro
1-2 sprigs fresh parsley
sprinkle of sea salt
sprinkle of pepper

Directions:
Simply add all of the dressing ingredients except the fresh herbs to a good blender. Blend 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Once the desired consistency is reached, add the cilantro and parsley and pulse a few times. The dressing makes enough for about 4-6 small salads or 2-3 large salads. I store my extra in a mason jar for to use later. It will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

The salad is baby spinach, tomato, shredded carrot, avocado & red pepper in a huge cabbage leaf! Now it you can eat this with a fork, but I wrapped mine up in the cabbage leaf and ate it like a giant wrap! I love using the outer beautiful leaves of fresh cabbage like this. I always pull those off and save them for wraps! I have been eating my cabbage many ways! I add it to stir-fry, soups, salads and came up with a tasty fully raw, vegan coleslaw recipe I will be sharing soon!

Healthy Chia Honey Mustard Dressing

I was craving some honey mustard dressing and in the past have tried a few different recipes and experiments that were just not quite there. One recipe I used called for using jarred organic mustard, and the results were very tasty, but for me, I like using all my own ingredients... so I tried once again and this time, I hit hit the nail on the head! The consistency is perfect and the taste is amazing. This dressing is great for sandwiches, salads, wraps, dipping you name it! The healthy secret is chia!

If you are into eating healthy, you will probably already know that chia has been touted as a super food. Chia packs a big punch with the right balance of omega 3's & 6's, protein, calcium and fiber. Here is a good article on chia on the Dr Oz site.

Besides chia this dressing has other healthy ingredients like the anti-cancer combo of turmeric and black pepper, fresh garlic, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey and dates. All nutrient dense ingredients! Ok on to the good stuff!

Chia Honey Mustard Dressing:

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/8 cup olive oil

2-3 tbsps raw apple cider vinegar (depending on how tangy you like it)

2 medjool dates (soaked makes them easier to blend)

1-2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp turmeric

5-6 black peppercorns or fresh ground pepper

1-2 tsps raw honey (not vegan and this is optional, add another date instead if you like)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup water (you can add more if you want it thinner)

Toss all ingredients into your blender and puree for 2-3 minutes until thick and smooth. It will be to the point where it starts to warm up a bit. This makes 4-8 servings depending on size. I store my extra in a mason jar in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. 

Salad pictured is kale, carrots, cucumber, tomato, and avocado. Better photos next time. I did this on the fly so I could record this recipe. I have more ideas for some healthy dressings that I will experiment with soon. Enjoy!

Apple Walnut Waldorf Salad With Creamy Hemp Mayo

Waldorf salad always makes me think of my grandmothers house. It was at her table I had my first bite of Waldorf salad. Of course she used mayo in hers. Back then mayo was probably a bit healthier than it is now days with all the strange additives.

I have been craving this salad for a while and I happened to have all the right ingredients to whip up a batch except the mayo... I have looked online a few times for vegan mayo recipes and experimented a bit. A lot of mayo recipes call for cashews since they whip up amazingly creamy. And I love cashew, cashew is great for vegan sour cream, cheese sauce, cheesecake, ohhh so many things, but I was getting a bit tired of it. I also believe that to be healthy, you need to eat a variety and using cashew for every creamy thing is not optimal. Anyway, I have been using a little hemp here and there, and discovered how creamy its texture is when blended. Plus it is less sweet than cashews, more "herby" flavored. So, needless to say this "experiment" came out exactly as I planned! And what a great healthy mayo recipe I have now!

The great thing about making your own mayo is that you can flavor it any way you like... oh the ideas in my head... Not to mention it is super easy with a decent blender, I mean it doesn't really get much easier than this! Anyway, here is my take on a raw vegan Waldorf Salad!

Salad:
3 gala apples diced with skins on (or whatever sweet apple you like)
2 celery stalks diced (use the leaves too!)
1/2 cucumber diced
1/4 cup diced red onion (or any sweet)
1/4 cup match stick or grated carrot
1/2 cup raisins or fresh grapes halved
1 cup soaked raw walnuts
2-3 sprigs cilantro

Hemp Mayo:
1/2 cup hulled hemp seed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp real maple syrup
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp sea salt
1 small garlic clove (or half of a larger one)
1 1/8 inch slice fresh ginger root

For the salad, dice salad veggies/fruit and add to a large bowl. For the dressing add all ingredients to a blender and puree for around 3 minutes. You will feel the mayo start to warm a bit. It should be rich and creamy at this point. Spoon over the salad a little at a time for the desired amount and mix.   The dressing should be about the right amount. Place a large scoop on a bed of mixed baby greens and fresh sprouts and serve! This recipe serves about 8-12. I make up a batch and keep it in the fridge.

Spicy Vegan Chili With Cashew Cream

Chili: Step One
2 cups of dried kidney beans
2 cups of dried red beans
1 tbsp sea salt
water

Chili: Step Two
1 small onion diced
6 small garlic cloves diced
1 small jalapeno diced (or to taste)
6 sun-dried tomatoes diced
1 large sweet potato cubed
1 27 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 27 oz can crushed tomatoes
4-5 sprigs of fresh cilantro
2 tsp real mapyle syrup
1 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cloves (my secret ingredient, it makes this chili really addictive!)

Cashew Cream Topping:
1 cup of soaked raw cashews
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup of water (or more)

The night before put all your dried beans in bowl with twice as much water. Let them soak for a minimum of 8 hours. Rinse them well with luke warm water to remove the toxins and digestive inhibitors. Put them in a large soup pot again with twice as much water, bring them to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 2-3 hours to soften them up nicely. Stir every few minutes, you may need to add more water.

When the beans are nice and soft, add the rest of the ingredients except the cilantro. If you want a mild chili I recommend eliminating the jalapeno and using 1/8 tsp of the cayenne pepper. I love spicy but I added a half teaspoon and we were all sweating here! lol Add more water if needed to make sure there is 3-4 inches above the veggies. Bring to a boil then reduce to a slow simmer, again stirring often to make sure there is enough water. Let simmer for 2-3 hours. You can add some cilantro just before serving or just use it as a garnish in your bowls.

For the topping, (make sure to soak the cashews for 2-6 hours, you can start them soaking once you start cooking the beans) add all the cashew cream ingredients to a blender and blend till smooth and creamy. Store this in the fridge for an hour prior to eating. You can eat it right away too, but it's nice to let it chill a bit first. You meat eaters can easily brown some CLEAN ground beef with the onion and garlic to add to the chili! Serve your chili with some organic corn chips and enjoy!

Zucchini Noodle Salad With Sun-Dried Tomato Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Today my spiralizer arrived and I was so excited I had to use it right away! Let me tell you, if you are wanting to make zucchini noodles this is the way to go. It makes it so easy to zip out some noodles and it is easy to clean up. And so much less dangerous for your fingers than a mandolin. The great thing is you can get one for about $35. Mine is going to get a lot of use! You can make noodles from squash, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, it also slices and makes curly fries. It's well worth the money! I received mine as a birthday present and I'm pretty happy about that!

Dressing:
4 sun-dried tomatoes
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp real maple syrup
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp water

Salad:
2-3 handfuls of mixed baby greens
1 handful of match stick carrots
2 sprigs of cilantro
2-3 sliced mushrooms
1 half slice of red onion
1 half of a zucchini

For the dressing, simply add all the ingredients into a blender and blend till emulsified. Alternately you can mince the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and mix by hand in a shaker or in a bowl. If the zucchini is organic leave the skin on and just wash it well, if it's not I wash then peel it. Then run the zucchini through the spiralizer or julienne it with a mandolin for nice long spaghetti type noodles. Put your salad ingredients onto a plate putting your noodles on top and drizzle with the dressing. This serves one large salad or two small dinner salads. The dressing will be enough for two large salads. I always store mine in a glass container in the fridge for my next salad. It will keep for a few days.

Balsamic vinaigrette is one of my favorite dressingss, but can easily make this salad and use any kind of dressing. I also think a creamy dill dressing would be amazing on it!

Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Cashew Cheese

1 cup of raw cashews soaked (for a couple hours at least)
2 tbsp gluten-free tamari
2 tbsp water
1/2 lemon juice
2 small garlic cloves
2 slices red onion
5 sun-dried tomatoes diced
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp cumin
pinch of sea salt

Add all ingredients except tomatoes to a blender and blend till creamy, add tomatoes and pulse a few times to chop and mix them so they are a little bit chunky. Eat as a spread on crackers, tortilla chips or as a spread on a wrap or dip your veggies in it! This is a very flavorful, dairy free, creamy spread! Add more or less of the garlic and onion to suit your taste. This is delicious right away, but it's best letting it sit in the fridge for a day to let the flavors blend and to thicken. You can add more liquid and blend more to make this super creamy and smooth like sour cream also! It's great either way. The key here is to use raw cashews and let them soak for a minimum of 2 hours, preferably overnight, 6-8 hours is best. Drain the liquid off and give them a quick rinse and toss them in the blender with your other ingredients.

Miso Sesame Dressing - Massaged Swiss Chard Salad

This recipe is adapted from Choosing Raw's Outstanding Miso Sesame Dressing's recipe. I had some beautiful rainbow Swiss chard waiting to be eaten. Swiss chard, like kale can be a bit tough when raw so many people make what's called a "massaged kale salad" to help soften it and make it more palatable when raw.  So I went looking for a good dressing to make with the ingredients I had on hand and came across this recipe and YUM! I made some minor changes due to my preferences and on hand ingredients.

Dressing:

1/4 cup chick pea miso (regular mellow white miso works too!)

1/4 cup tahini

1/2" knob of fresh ginger (minced if you don't have a good blender)

1 garlic cloves

pinch of Himalayan salt

1/2 cup water

Salad:

1 bunch rainbow Swiss chard (or kale)

2 carrots diced

1 medium tomato diced

1/2 zucchini diced

2-3 small sweet red, orange, yellow peppers sliced

sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds

Toss all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth and creamy. You can add more or less water to make it the desired consistency. I like mine a bit thick. Alternately you could mince the ginger and garlic and mix by hand. 

For the salad, you'll want to de-stem the Swiss chard, tear it into bite size pieces, dice or matchstick the carrots, slice the peppers, dice tomato and toss them in the bowl with the chard. Scoop on your dressing, making sure not to put on too much. I personally do not like my salads to swim in a thick dressing, yuck! Then mix to coat, wash your hands and dig in to rub the leaves, this softens them. You can serve this immediately or store it in the fridge and eat it later.

Not sure exactly what miso is? It is a fermented bean paste traditionally used in Miso soup. Fermented foods are highly beneficial to our diet. They provide us with beneficial bacteria and are a natural way to add probioctics to our bodies. They can aid in digestion, nutrient absorption and they are a natural way to preserve foods. Here is just one site on fermented food benefits. There are lots of different fermented foods out there.

Spicy Black Bean Dip

2 cans of drained organic black beans (be sure and squeeze out extra liquid)
1 7oz. can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 fresh seeded, red chili pepper (this is optional, if you want a more mild dip then I suggest leaving this out)
4 red, yellow, orange mini sweet peppers
1/4 red onion
4-5 cloves of fresh garlic
1 medium tomato
4-5 sprigs of fresh cilantro
1-2 fresh limes juiced
Himalayan salt to taste

Add the peeled garlic cloves to your food processor and pulse a few times to mince the garlic, add onion and pulse to dice, add cilantro and pulse a few more times, add fresh peppers and tomatoes and pulse a couple times once again for a salsa like consistency. Add one can of drained black beans and blend until thick and creamy. Add the second can and the can of chipotle peppers and pulse a few times so you have a creamy but slightly chunky texture. If you want it really smooth you can just run it longer till it is completely smooth and creamy. I kinda like getting a chunky bite of the peppers, they have so much flavor! Pair this with your favorite organic corn chip and garnish with some fresh diced tomato and cilantro. This makes quite a bit so it would be perfect for a gathering. The chipotle peppers add a lot of flavor. They are the only thing that was not organic that I added to this, but the ingredients were all simple whole food ingredients. Alternately you could add sun-dried re-hydrated peppers for that deep flavor. You would want to soak the dried peppers in just enough water to cover them till they are soft and drain the liquid before adding. Enjoy!

Dill Pickled Zucchini & Sweet Potato Salad

Pickled Veggies:
1/2 cup water or more if needed
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp dried dill
1 garlic clove minced finely
3-4 stems cilantro, leaves pulled off, stems diced
4-5 fresh chives diced
himalyan or sea salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 thinly sliced zucchini (i used a vegetable peeler)
1/4 or less thinly sliced sweet potato
2 tbsp olive oil (save this till the blender step)

Salad:
crispy romaine
tomatoes
avocados

Put all ingredients for the pickled veggies in a bowl except oil. Let this marinate for at least ten minutes, the veggies will be softer. Then drain liquid with a metal strainer and put the liquid into blender, add a scoop or two of the pickled veggie mix into blender also, then add the oil and blend till smooth and creamy for the dressing. Alternately you can drain liquid, add only the oil and whisk or shake till emulsified. Then put the rest of the veggie mixture on a bed of romaine and whatever veggies you'd like. I used tomato and avocado.

You can easily substitute any veggies in the pickling mix, cucumber would be really good. You could also add some diced sweet onion, match stick carrots, etc. You could also switch the cilantro for basil. Fresh herbs really kick up salads a few notches. I keep fresh basil, chives, cilantro, parsley on hand as much as possible.

So lets talk about salt. I love salt, I have always been a salt-a-holic, consuming more than I should... luckily I have always had very low blood pressure, sometimes too low! Anyway, in my quest for better health I did some research on salt. Table salt is basically sea salt that has been stripped of all it's minerals, some has iodine added back in, and a lot of it has added anti-caking substances. Another thing to be aware of is that the label "sea salt" can be mis-leading. Since all of it basically came from the sea at one time or another, any salt can claim it is sea salt but not be any different than the stripped down version that you buy as table salt. So, it may not seem like that big of a deal, for the most part it's not really, but I do not like weird additives.

So what salt should you use? And what is this Himalayan salt I keep talking about? Himalayan salt is a pure salt mined in Pakistan. Its natural color is pink due to the mineral content. It is not processed, nothing is added to it or taken from it, and it contains traces of many different minerals, some sites boast up to 84 different trace minerals. It also has a really good taste. Another good salt is Celtic sea salt. This has a brown shade, I have not tried it yet. Personally I prefer unadulterated foods so I use Himalayan or an unrefined sea salt with no additives, I love the pink shade and flavor of Himalayan. Either way, you need to watch how much salt you eat so I really believe this is personal preference. But overall pure, natural foods are usually best!

Sprouted Salad with Honey Ginger Vinaigrette

I love sprouts, can you tell? lol.. Anyway, sprouting is easy, I sprout my own lentils, mung beans, alfalfa sprouts, garbanzo's and more. Sprouts are extremely nutritious and much easier to digest than unsprouted legumes and seeds. Plus they add a nice crispy crunchy element to any dish. Ok enough on sprouting. Lets get to the good stuff! The dressing! I love making my own fresh dressings. Store bought dressings have so many unneeded and unhealthy ingredients. You think it is healthy when it says "with olive oil" but if you read the label, sure they use some olive oil, they will also use soy oils and other partially hydrogenated type oils as well. A lot of them also use high fructose corn syrup, and lots of other weird thickenings, preservatives, colorings, etc. Bad stuff... Packaging is VERY deceptive. You have to read labels. But, I find making my own dressings is easy, healthier and so much tastier!

A lot of vinaigrette type dressings are really simple to make and only require adding them to a cruet type container and shaking them. Or if you have a blender you can toss the ingredients in and emulsify them. I have a blender with single serve smoothie cup attachments which make this super easy and quick. I use the Ninja Mega Kitchen System. It's has several attachments and I love it. I use it daily as a food processor, blender, mixer, smoothie maker, salad dressing maker... The small cups are so quick and convenient to use for smoothies and salad dressings. I also bought this at Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% off coupon! This system also has another attachment set to slice and grate which I will be ordering when I have the money. It's really nice to have this all in one capability, one base to leave out, and lots of attachments to do everything I need. I realize this is a bit on the pricey side, but consider it like a stove... These things are what I use daily. I don't actually use my stove much any more! Any blender you have will work for these dressings though! Anyway, on to the recipe!

Honey Ginger Vinaigrette Dressing:
1/4 inch knob of fresh ginger peeled
1 clove of garlic
1 inch of the green part of a scallion
1/2 lemon juiced
1 tbsp honey* or real grade b maple syrup
2-3 tbsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar
2-4 tbsp cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of water
Himalayan salt or sea salt to taste

Sprouted Salad:
sprouted lentils
sprouted mung beans
sunflower sprouts
romaine lettuce
bibb lettuce
red leaf lettuce
grape tomatoes
red pepper diced
broccoli florets and stems diced
carrot shreds
button mushrooms
avocado chunks

For the dressing, if you have a blender just throw everything in and blend till smooth and emulsified and done! Alternately you can mince the garlic, ginger and scallion and whisk together or shake it in a bottle. You can also use dried garlic, onion powder and ginger if you don't have any fresh around. You'll want to use about 1/4 teaspoon of each to start with, then maybe add more to your taste. The best way to make a dressing is to start with less of an ingredient and taste it and add a little more at a time to get it the way you like it. I try to keep low on the oils in my dressings since I eat avocado in my salads frequently. You need the healthy oils, but you also don't want too much in your diet. So start with less oil and more water. If you need to you can add a bit more. The salad is a no brainer, just use what you like or have handy! 

*honey is not considered vegan. you can easily substitute maple syrup, date paste or stevia if desired.

Salsa Salad with a Creamy Taco Dressing

I had been soaking my red lentils to sprout them, I love sprouted lentils in my salads. They are crispy and sweet, nutritious and very easy to sprout. As I was gathering my salad ingredients, my red lentils, and noticing all the cilantro in my refrigerator that I needed to use up before I go on vacation, I decided to make a salsa themed salad. It's no secret to those who know me that I LOVE fresh salsa, guacamole and Mexican food. I've been making fresh salsa and guac for years now and pretty much have it perfected to my taste. So... I chopped up my crunchy romaine, a beautiful red tomato, half of an avocado, stripped the leaves off the cilantro and threw them in my salad whole (I actually threw the stems in the blender, or you can dice the stems and toss them in the salad, to not waste that amazing cilantro flavor!), added some red pepper and my alfalfa & sunflower sprouts. As I was about to sprinkle on the lentils it hit me... so instead I threw them in the blender and with the addition of a few other ingredients.. voila... an oil free, dairy free, creamy raw "taco" dressing. It came out even better than I expected! The lentils give it a smooth creamy texture and lend their beany flavor, reminiscent of well... bean dip! This new dressing is will be an amazing sauce for lots of things, like wraps, as a veggie dip, it gives me a lot of ideas! I am going to attempt to make some garbanzo bean tortilla wraps soon too... This salad would also be really good with a few organic blue corn chips or my favorite Late July Sweet Potato corn chips, either on the side or crunched up over the top like croutons! (By the way these chips are extremely good! One of my indulgences that I don't feel too guilty about since they have really good simple ingredients!) (the dressing recipe makes enough for 2 large salads or around 4 smaller dinner salads)

Raw Taco Dressing:
1/4 cup sprouted red lentils
1/4 cup hulled hemp seed
1/2 cup filtered water
1 garlic clove
2 tsp real maple syrup
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
cilantro stems

Toss all the ingredients into a blender and run until smooth and creamy. You can add more or less water for desired consistency. I have a blender with single serve smoothie cup attachments and those work perfect for dressings. Alternately you can used cooked red lentils if you don't mind the recipe being fully raw.

Salad:
1 handful romaine
1 handful red leaf lettuce
1 medium tomato cubed
1/2 of an avocado cubed
1 handful alfalfa sprouts
1 handful sunflower sprouts torn into bite size pieces
1 green onion diced
1 handful cilantro leaves
1/2 lime

Chop all veggies and toss in a bowl, squeeze lime juice over and toss, drizzle with dressing and eat!