Creamy Strawberry Salad Dressing {Vegan}

It’s the simple things in life, right?

Saturday night my inclination was to do what we’ve been doing a lot of lately – phoning dinner in. And I don’t mean auto-pilot doing the same ol’ same ol’ in the kitchen. I mean picking up the phone and literally dialing dinner in.  I stopped myself, though, and decided to woman up. What could I make that was quick and easy?

I began by tossing a mix of farro and barley into the rice cooker (with homemade vegetable stock).  I had a package of Upton’s Naturals traditional seitan in the refrigerator and grabbed that. I sautéed garlic and onion in veggie stock in a saucepan and added the seitan (which is already cooked) and reduced the heat to simmer – as in barely a flame – and added a splash of tamari. I covered the pan and let the seitan get good and tender while my grains were cooking.  Soon I had this big bowl of deliciousness.

I tweeted out what I was concocting and my friend Evan replied “gluten on gluten.”  You know it! I am not a celiac or even close to being a gluten-free vegan, so I don’t fear the wheat!  (I have some thoughts on gluten which I will be sharing soon. Stay tuned!)

The hearty bowl lacked a vegetable, though. Sadly, the only fresh vegetable I had on hand was a head of romaine lettuce. Actually, not sad at all – I love romaine. But I wanted something colorful with a little Saturday-night-decadence to go with it.

Creamy Strawberry Salad Dressing {Vegan}

by JL goes Vegan: Food & Fitness with a side of Kale

This is so quick! So easy! So good!

Ingredients

  • Raw, unsalted cashews (2 handfuls), soaked for approximately 15 minutes for a high-speed blender or one hour for a food processor
  • 6 large strawberries, stemmed and quartered
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • Filtered water (about 1/4 cup)

Instructions

  1. Add first three ingredients to a high-speed blender.
  2. Add water, as needed, and blend to desired consistency.

Yes!  That was just what I needed!

The dressing is so light and fresh – and quite obviously simple.

I had about 1.5 cups left over after dinner so I stored it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

The next day, after sending my husband out for fresh veggies … STAT, I steamed asparagus and drizzled the Creamy Strawberry Dressing over it.

I cannot think of a better way to enjoy spring fruits and vegetables!

5 thoughts on “Creamy Strawberry Salad Dressing {Vegan}”

  1. I see cashews in so many vegan substitutes. I there an alternative for those with nut allergies?

Comments are closed.