2014-07-07

Orange Carrot Cashew Dressing

Have I mentioned that I am making my way through Dr. Fuhrman's new book, The End of Dieting? Probably not.  I'm a gruelingly slow reader and I often cheat abandon take breaks in the middle of books to read short fun things on the side.  Lately I've been switching between The End of Dieting and Are You there, Vodka? It's me, Chelsea, by Chelsea Handler (hilarious!).

Although I have read Eat to Live (thrice?), Super Immunity (twice), and watched most of Dr. Fuhrman's PBS specials, I felt like I wanted a refresher with The End of Dieting book.  It has been just that: motivation to get my butt back into gear with eating more vegetables.  A lot of times I get caught up in the "Oh! This is vegan?" or "Awesome! That is plant-based?", that I forget to make it my focus to eat high nutrient-dense vegetables.  It has helped me to remember that, although foods like one cupful of dates is technically vegan and plant-based (which I have used this amount in a dessert recipe before, yikes!), it is a ton of sugar and I would get so many more nutrients AND feel fuller on a quarter of the calories and five times the volume of cooked and raw vegetables.

Do you find yourself falling into the "well I guess this is vegan and technically plant-based" trap?  What helps you to get motivated to start adding back in more veggies?

I'm a little over halfway through EoD, and I was inspired to make this dressing that is similar to one of Dr. Fuhrman's favorite dressings that he talks about in just about every book he has written. Rather than bothering to look up a recipe this morning, I just threw this together with what I had on hand and sounded good.  In the rush of the morning I let this dressing blend while I was chopping salad ingredients (kale, red cabbage, red onion, carrots, broccoli).  I stopped the blender to check the consistency and taste after a while, and O... M... G... this dressing is amazingly yummy and satisfying!  I just had to share it with you :)

*Note: I have provided an Amazon link to The End of Dieting book below.  If you happen to want to purchase it and you use my link, I get a tiny bit of money from the purchase, which goes towards a new camera for the blog that I have been saving up for.


Orange Carrot Cashew Dressing
Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
        1 orange, peeled
        1/2 cup raw cashews (sub white or cannellini beans for less fat)
        1/2 cup plant-based milk, more to thin
        1 raw carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
        2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
        2 tsp ginger paste, or 1 inch fresh ginger

Instructions:
1.)  Throw all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend on high until smooth, adding plant-based milk to thin to your desired consistency.
2.)  Serve chilled as a dip or delicious salad dressing.

Amy's Notes:
Here is my salad from this afternoon that I topped off with the dressing.  I can't remember the last time I looked forward to a salad this much!



How was everyone's 4th of July holiday weekend?  I watched the Spokane fireworks from my downtown office balcony with some friends.


5 comments:

  1. Glad I'm not the only one who takes forever to read books - despite how much I might love them!!!!

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    1. I like to think that reading as slowly as I do gives me more time to process the info! ;)

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  2. I also have not eaten as well as I should. It seems I have good weks and bad weeks. Often sticking to vegan and not nutritarian. Thank you for the motivation

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  3. Ended up here while searching for salad dressing recipes and yay, I see you live in WA! Anyhoo, I will definitely be trying this one, thanks for the recipe. I am currently trying to add a ludicrous amount of vegetables into my diet in order to edge out chocolate, so I need some good non-oily dressings. (I'm halfway through the book myself! I read Eat to Live back in college, but figured I needed a refresher.)

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    1. Are you a fellow Washingtonian? :)
      I know I need a refresher of the book about once a year. It's nice to remember all the why when it starts feeling tedious to take care of the how.

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