Creamy Garlic Cashew Dressing/Dip

Back in March, I posted a recipe for Citrus Tahini Dressing that is really tasty. After making several batches and consuming it for the last few weeks on my salads, I decided that it was time to branch out and look for other dressing recipes. I don't miss store-bought dressings but I do miss the variety available. The other day at the grocery store, I struck up a conversation with another shopper about vegan dressings and sauces (which seems really random, but it was actually pertinent to the situation at the time). She told me about a tzatziki sauce that she had made recently using soaked, raw cashews and how good it turned out to be so I thought I would give the idea a try. Using this recipe as my main base recipe, here is what I came up with:

3/4 Cups of raw cashews
1/2 Cup of unsweetened coconut milk (or almond, soy, etc)
Juice of 1 large lemon, or of 2 Meyer lemons
1 Tablespoon of chia seeds
1 garlic clove
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
1/8 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of seasoning of choice (I used Weber's beer can chicken seasoning)

Soak the raw cashews in water overnight.

Once they are soft from soaking, drain the water. Place the drained cashews in a blender or food processor and add coconut milk, lemon juice, garlic, chia seeds, salt, pepper, and seasoning of choice.

Blend and blend and blend until super-smooth.

My end result was startlingly garlic-y at first but once I added it to my salad, it was just the right level of flavor to enhance the raw veggies. I was a little concerned that this dressing would set up overnight and become too thick due to the chia seeds because I have made my fair share of Berry Chia Pudding (which is amazing, by the way). To be on the safe side, I put it in a wide-mouth jar but I had no problem with it the next morning when preparing my salad for lunch.

I think this recipe will prove to be quite versatile. The original recipe that inspired me included some fresh herbs but if you don't have those on hand, you can use just about any other dried herbs and spices that sound good. For my next batch, I think I will try less garlic and more herbs...fresh ones if I can plan ahead. I think this could also make a really good avocado dip or dressing. If you decide to try this for yourself and get creative with what herbs, spices and other ingredients you use, let me know what you think!

Comments

Kitchen Renovation - Part 3 (Looks Like We're Finally Getting Somewhere)

I finally have more kitchen pictures to share and it feels like things are finally starting to come together with this renovation. A couple of weeks ago, a local company, Granite Transformations , came in to reface the existing cabinets and counter top. They also faced the new cabinets that I built around the stove so that everything looks cohesive. Before they arrived, I had to clear out everything from the existing cabinets. And then on Day 1, the excitement began! I was SOOOO happy to see my old sink go. It wasn't bad but it was small, shallow, and had seen better days. By the end of Day 1, the counters were refinished with granite and the new (more functional) sink was installed. The refacing was started on the two small cabinets but just barely. By the end of Day 2, the new faucet was installed and the refacing was well underway. At this point, I was seriously questioning my choice of white for the cabinets. When I selected it, I was thinking it w...

Kitchen Renovation - Part 2

In my previous blog post , I shared a picture of my kitchen wall where my oven sits. Today I am posting some updated pictures that include the new cabinet boxes I created to fit in this space. I have always been pretty crafty and not afraid to learn new techniques with new materials. And while I have done a moderate share of woodworking, I have never done cabinetry...until now. My dilemma was that I am keeping and refacing the original kitchen cabinets. They have their own unique depth, height, drawer size, etc, that can't be found in prefabricated cabinet boxes. This particular area of my kitchen is also only 16" deep which is pretty shallow for your average cabinet. In exploring my options, I knew that I couldn't buy stock cabinets, and even though I could get the correct width and depth via online stores that made semi-custom cabinet boxes, the final product would not have matched the other dimensions of the existing cabinetry. It seemed that I had two choices.....

Intro to Carpentry, or Yes, I Went Back to Class...AGAIN

After creating the cabinet boxes for my kitchen last year, I was inspired to do more. I have worked with wood before, but for some reason this time, the whole process really resonated with me. The smell of the sawdust after making a fresh cut, the sound of the hand planer as it takes thin curls off of the surface, the feel of the wood once it's been sanded and finished...it just made me smile and gave me a deep sense of satisfaction. In addition, I found myself relaxing for the first time that I can remember in decades. My mind went quiet every time I started working, which was pretty amazing to me. I had been so stressed at my previous job for so long that my shoulders never relaxed and my mind was never truly quiet until I picked up my carpentry tools and started really working on my kitchen. After completing the two cabinet boxes, I wanted to do more which meant that I wanted to learn more. I looked around town at all of the options I could find and concluded that the most co...

Bundle of Lime

Search This Blog