I’ve been searching for healthy recipes to go with my vegan/nutritarian diet. So get ready (and I hope you don’t mind) because I’m going to post a slew of recipes, not only to share with you, but for easy reference for me, too.
The things I want to avoid are dairy, oil, salt and sugar. The things I want to include are lots of green salads (various shades of green, including dark green like arugula, spinach, kale with nuts and seeds sprinkled on), as a main course in both lunch and dinner, (not a side like I have been taught to think for salads). I’m going to pickle lots of veggies to top the salads, like purple onion, red cabbage, cucumbers, radishes (although I’m going to try to find more than just the regular radishes, like the watermelon radishes). Too, I plan to vary my salads with fruits like strawberries and blueberries.
Whenever I need to sautee something, I’ll use water with a little vegetable bouillon instead of oil. It’s important to eat mushrooms every day, which I love. I sautee my mushrooms in an inch of vegetable broth, and eat them on my salad. Another thing I like on salads is beans–black, pinto, kidney, garbanzo … you name it, I like it. Too, I make my own seed- or nut-based dressings, which are so much more healthier than the store bought dressings. I make my dressings in my Nutribullet, which purees everything beautifully. I love my basalmic walnut vinaigrette. But I want variety so I don’t get tired of salads. I have posted several dressings. I don’t think any of them asked for oil; if so, I’ll leave it out or find a substitute. Maybe water?
Breakfast is usually a smoothie made in my Nutribullet with kale or collard greens, and walnuts and chia seeds, flax seed with various fruits. Now for the dinner dish:
Curried Almond Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 2 1/2 tbsps apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsps agave nectar or pure maple syrup
- 2/3 cup water or more to thin as needed; see note
- 1 very small clove garlic
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper optional
- 1/8 tsp (or more) curry powder or more to taste (see note)
Instructions
Using a standing blender or an immersion blender and deep cup or jar, puree all the ingredients (starting with 1⁄2 cup of the water) until very smooth. (A high-powered blender such as a Blendtec works best to smooth out the dressing; using an immersion blender or regular blender will leave a little more texture and take a little longer.) Add additional curry to taste, and additional water to thin as desired (see note). Makes about 1 generous cup.
Recipe Notes
- Flavor Tip: I like using about 1⁄8 rounded teaspoon of curry powder in this dressing, for a very muted flavor. But if you love curry, feel free to use more than this, adjusting to your own taste.
- Healthy Salad Dressings Serving Suggestions: If using as a dip, use just 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup of water to puree and then refrigerate it, adding extra water later, if desired, to thin (it will thicken considerably after chilling). If using as a salad dressing, you can keep it thick, or thin it more as you prefer.