Nature Derived Organics

This has been a go-to recipe for us during quarantine – I swear I make this at least 5 time a week! The best part – it takes me about 3-4 minutes!

Gather all of your ingredients:

• Cashews
• Lemon
• Garlic
• Balsamic vinegar
• White vinegar
• Olive oil
• Water
• Salt & Pepper

I am not a big fan of measuring out the ingredients, I go off of how I feel that day. Some days I want more lemon and others more garlic. Some days I opt to leave out the balsamic vinegar all together to have a more traditional caeser dressing vibe. Play around with the ratios to create your own perfect version! Let me know what you come up with 🙂

On this day my proportions were:

• 1 cup cashews
• 1 full lemon squeezed
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tbsp water
• Splash of vinegar (white or apple cider)
• Salt and pepper
• BLEND! If the mixture is too thick, add more water
  • Don’t worry if the dressing is on the watery side. The cashews provide a firming effect once you toss it so it will not get soggy! I have even eaten this salad as leftovers the next day and it was not soggy at all – super impressed!

Get creative!

This recipe is for a vinaigrette version, but you can get super creative with this dressing! If you skip the vinegars and use the remaining ingredients as a base you can try any of the following:

• Add 1/4 cup of sesame seeds for a tahini
  • You can then use the tahini in a humus recipe! Basically just add chickpeas, water, oil and any spices you like. Common hummus spices include cumin, paprika, chilli flakes and coriander
• Leave out the vinegars and use it as a veggie dip! Or add some mustard for a caeser salad dressing
• Use this recipe in place of mayonnaise for tuna melts and other sandwiches! (Again, you can leave out the vinegars for those)

Now prep your salad fixings!

My favorites are lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red pepper and avocado. On this day I added cucumber and some chickpeas that I baked in the oven with some cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and chilli powder. Other options could be spinach, kale, left over quinoa, radish, etc.

Mix and enjoy!

There is no right or wrong way to make these salads! I want you to add whatever veggies, fixings, and dressing ingredients you enjoy eating the most! It is super versatile and very quick and easy. It is a great way to get healthy fats into your diet and a tasty way to get your veggies in for the day!

Let me know if you try and I hope you enjoy my first recipe blog post! 🙂

Sending my love,

P