Lemon Vinaigrette

 Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1-3 garlic cloves

1-2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1) Put garlic cloves in a food processor and run until minced. 

2) Put all remaining ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.

3) Keeps for up to a week in the fridge.

Creamy Chipotle-Lime Dressing

This is still my first effort at this dressing, but I don't want to forget what I used.  And apparently the key to thinning white bean puree into the consistency of dressing is the addition of water (for thinning) and vinegar (so that it doesn't taste watery). 

Ingredients
1/4 cup water
1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 chipotle in adobo, from canned (note:  ONE CHIPOTLE, not one can full.  If you use the whole can, the spiciness will murder you.  Put the rest in a sealed container and throw it in the freezer for later.)
Juice of 1 lime (again, I think 2 would be preferable -- yielding about a tablespoon of juice in total, I'm estimating -- but I'm out of limes.)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup prepared salsa
salt, to taste
2 tbs nutritional yeast
2 tbs unsweetened yogurt (I used some of the homemade unsweetened soy cashew yogurt I made the other day -- I was shocked at how much it brightened and improved the flavor.  Though now that I've added vinegar, I'm not sure how much the yogurt mattered.)
2 tbs apple cider vinegar (vinegar seems to be essential to creating a bold enough flavor to serve as a salad dressing -- it was far too watery before I added it)

Directions
1.  Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend smooth.  Refrigerate for up to a week (conservative estimate).
 

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Salad Dressing

I was going to make Neal Barnard's Roasted Red Pepper salad dressing, as found on Healthy Girl's Kitchen, but I started getting things out and ended up making it my own way instead.  It's still vegan, no-oil, and no-salt.  It's not very vinegary since I'm not super into vinegar, and it tastes good plain on a spoon, so we'll see how it tastes when diluted over an entire salad.  I think lemon zest and juice could also be a good addition or replacement for the vinegar, but I have no lemons right now.

Ingredients
1 12 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed (I used cannellini because it's what I had on hand, but great northern and probably even butter beans would work equally well)
1 1/2 tbs white balsamic vinegar (because that's how much I'd used when I realized the bottle was empty)
1 tbs fig-infused balsamic vinegar (because it smelled milder and more appealing to me than my plain balsamic)
1 tsp Mrs. Dash original salt-free blend (because I have two varieties of Mrs. Dash from when I first read Esselstyn and Fuhrman's books, and I never really use them)

Directions

1.  Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender (I used my Vitamix for optimal smoothness) and blend until smooth.  Store in sealed jars in the refrigerator for (I'm guessing here) up to two weeks.  Makes two standard size mason jars worth of dressing.

Apple Pecan Cornbread Dressing

I've been making this recipe for years, and I like it a lot.  I'm making a few changes for Thanksgiving this year.  First, I'm replacing the eggs with a mixture of flax meal and water.  I have no idea to what extent this will work, but since the finished product isn't a quiche texture or anything, I think it will be okay.  Second, since there is always too much of this dressing leftover to finish -- and I always avoid using much of the dry bread from the stuffing mix anyway -- I'm cutting out the pre-packaged stuffing mix altogether and replacing it with just the dried herbs the internet has led me to believe are normally contained in such things.  The original recipe comes from AllRecipes.com.  This year, again to avoid having to buy eggs, I'm using a vegan cornbread recipe from Post Punk Kitchen.  In the past I've typically used Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread recipe from AllRecipes.com, often replacing the buttermilk with watered down plain yogurt. 

Ingredients
1 (9x13 inch) pan cornbread, cooled and chopped (or better yet, left on the kitchen counter overnight to get a bit stale)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped apples
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (replace with Earth Balance or similar vegan buttery spread to make vegan)
2 cups apple juice
3 tbs flax meal + 1/2 cup water (or low-sodium vegetable broth)

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 3 quart casserole dish.  

2. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, and saute the celery and onion for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender. 

3. In a large bowl, combine the cornbread, stuffing mix, parsley, ginger, and salt. Mix in the celery and onion mixture, chopped apple, chopped pecans, apple juice, and beaten flax meal mixture. Spoon dressing into prepared casserole dish. 

4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until heated through, and lightly browned on top.  (Check after 25 minutes since the original bake time is based on a larger dish.)

Gravy

I plan to serve this with stuffed tofurkys on Thanksgiving.  I found it on OhSheGlows.com, where it says it is an adaptation of an Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tbs tamari
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tbs cornstarch or arrowroot powder
2 tbs tahini
1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbs blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp agave nectar
2 tbs olive oil

Directions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients and puree until smooth.  In a pot on medium to high heat, add mixture and bring to a boil.  Reduce to low and stir frequently to thicken.  Remove from heat and serve.  Add additional water, agave, or vinegar as needed to adjust to taste.

Sweet Corn Sauce

This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  It is recommended for serving over cooked greens and salads, like the Miraculous Walnut Sauce.

Ingredients
5 ears uncooked fresh corn (preferred), or 1 16 oz. package frozen corn
1 small onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water

Directions

1. Cut corn off cob and scrape cobs to extract juice. If you are using frozen corn, thaw under running water (or leave in your fridge for a few hours).

2. Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

3. Put blended mixture in a pan and cook like scrambled eggs until it thickens.  Add water if necessary.  A thinner sauce is better over greens.  This also makes a good salad dressing just as it is, or add vinegar, lemon, or lime to taste.

Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

I found this recipe on AllRecipes while looking for a really good, basic vinaigrette recipe to serve over salad greens.

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup raspberry wine vinegar (or another good quality vinegar of your choice)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
(I'm not sure why there is no salt in this recipe, unless there is enough in the mustard.  I'll add it to the list of ingredients when I figure out how much is necessary.  I also doubt there should be equal amounts oil and vinegar, based on the old vinaigrette adage I heard on 'Good Eats', but we'll see how it goes.  I'll probably only use 1/4 cup vinegar to start and add more to taste.)

Directions

1. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, oregano, and pepper. Shake well.

Cucumber Dill Dressing

This is the dressing I use on California Wraps.  Sameer calls it "kitten sauce" because he would allegedly eat anything -- even a cat -- as long as it had this dressing poured over it.

Ingredients
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1 tbs mayonnaise
1/4 cup fresh grated cucumber
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1 dash white pepper
garlic salt to taste

Directions
Mix together all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving on sandwiches, fresh vegetables, or green salad.

Outback Steakhouse-style Horseradish Sauce

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com along with a recipe for the Bloomin' Onion.  I plan to use it on vegan breaded shrimp from the freezer section.  We'll see how that goes.

Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbs ketchup
2 tbs cream-style horseradish sauce
1/3 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1 pinch ground black pepper
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish, 1/3 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon oregano, a dash ground black pepper and cayenne pepper; mix well. Keep sauce covered in refrigerator until needed.

Hummus Salad Dressing

It's hard to find no-oil, no-salt salad dressings that aren't abhorrent.  I'm not sure how many taste buds a man has to kill to be able to eat straight vinegar like it's vinaigrette, but I still have too many for that.  Here is the most promising attempt at a legitimately healthy dressing I've seen.  It comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and features the no-tahini hummus that our household already likes.

Ingredients
2 heaping tablespoons no-tahini hummus
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, or vinegar of your choice (I'll be using white balsamic vinegar.)
1/2 tsp mustard of choice (I'll be using Dijon this time around -- it works really well in the green onion hummus.)

Directions

1. Mix and pour over greens. 

Horseradish Cream Sauce

I wanted to make an Outback Steakhouse-style horseradish sauce to go with the vegan breaded shrimp I found in the freezer section at Whole Foods, and horseradish cream sauce is the primary ingredient.  I went to buy some from the store, but all of the options were cheap, garbage-style condiments with high fructose corn syrup and other preservatives, so I decided to make my own.  I found this recipe by Alton Brown on the FoodNetwork website.  Alton tends to make the best recipes.  I plan to make maybe half of this into the Outback-style dip and keep half as is.

Ingredients
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated fresh horseradish (You can find whole horseradish root in the produce section, typically near the ginger root and herbs.)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place all of the ingredients into a medium mixing bowl and whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight to allow flavors to meld. Sauce can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2 to 3 weeks. (One thing I read online about horseradish is that it goes bitter and gross shortly after being grated unless you add vinegar or something to it.  So make the whole mixture in one go rather than grating anything ahead of time.)

Miraculous Walnut Sauce

This is another recipe from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  A lot of other recipes from the same book seem to reference it.  Having made this twice now, I can verify it is indeed miraculous.  Blanch any dark leafy greens in boiling water for a couple minutes, drain, and add this sauce.  It's garlicky and delicious.

Ingredients (adjust amounts according to your own tastes -- the numbers below reflect how I make it)
1/2 cup walnuts
1 garlic clove
2 tbs low-sodium tamari (I'll be using Bragg's Liquid Aminos, as always.)
1/2 cup (or more) water, depending on how thick or thin you want the sauce

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor.

2. Blend, adding as much water as necessary (about 1/2 cup) to make it the right consistence to pour.

[Edited 2/22/13:  This was amazing.  Not at all what I was expecting.  It's a nice salty, garlicky dressing.  I've already made it twice since posting this.  Sameer keeps being disappointed when he goes back for another helping and sees we've already eaten all the chard, kale, or whatever we put this on.  This was a shocking revelation for both of us -- neither of us were huge dark leafy green fans previously.]

Homemade Ranch Dressing

 I like this dressing with salads, cheese fries (it closely resembles the spicy ranch from Outback Steakhouse -- the key is the cayenne pepper), and cut raw vegetables.  The dried herb amounts are all approximations since I don't bother using measuring spoons when I make this.  Go easy on the dill weed and do everything else to taste.

If you want to lose weight without trying, make this dressing and buy a bunch of fresh vegetables like broccoli florets and carrots.  Eat as much as you want of the veggies and dip whenever you want.  Any time I do this, I end up gorging myself on veggies and dip -- particularly in the afternoon before dinnertime -- and being too full of fiber and non-fat yogurt to eat much else.  Any time I make this dressing, I tend to lose about a pound per week.

Ingredients
1 small yellow onion
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt (for vegan option, use Forager brand unsweetened plain cashew yogurt)
2 tbs mayonnaise (for vegan option, use Vegannaise)
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp freeze-dried chives
1/4 tsp garlic salt (I'm honestly not sure how much garlic salt I use. I typically turn the shaker upside-down and count to three. If you taste the dressing and it still has a sort of sour yogurty taste, add more garlic salt.)
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper (the 'fresh ground' part is important)
1-2 dashes cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Grate the onion into a bowl (I use the fine side of a cheese grater).  Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.