Dijon Date Dressing

I topped this

and this

with this

and although this

is my preferred way of getting my greens, I do try to eat salad, too.

Now seriously?

Who wants to come to a vegan blog and see lettuce leaves? You? Really? Okay.

Here is a salad dressing to top those lovely greens you are going to eat today. It is oil free. So now it is also guilt free.

Happy weight loss, and good feelings all around. Say goodbye to store-bought dressings filled with oil and preservatives.


Dijon Date Dressing
From Joel Fuhrman's, "Eat To Live"

Ingredients:
Serves 4

1 cup water
1/3 cup raw cashew butter or 2/3 cup raw cashews
4 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons no-salt seasoning (I used Costco's no salt seasoning, and you could back off on this a little bit -- it's quite strong)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (again, you could go lighter on this)
4-6 dates, pitted
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or high-powered blender until smooth and creamy.

(You could use other alternative sweeteners if you don't have dates, or if your blender struggles with these bad boys).


P.S. You may be curious as to what I put in the 2nd salad pictured above. You should be. It was delicious.

Here's what's in it

Base:
Spring mix
Broccoli and carrot slaw
Cilantro leaves

Then:
Pico de gallo
Black beans from a can, rinsed
Cucumber slices

And:
1/2 Avocado, cubed
1 lime, juiced over top
Coarse ground black pepper

Topped with:
Hatch chile chip crumbles
Dijon date dressing (VERY lightly drizzled)

A trick with salads is that if you juice a lemon or lime over the top of it, then it adds zing and flavor and significantly reduces the amount of dressing you need to use to cover your salad, and it tastes so good and fresh, too!

There's a little southwest for ya...

And the first salad pictured above is zinged out (peppered and spiced up) by Daikon radish shreds, green onions, cilantro, and tomatoes...on spring mix.


P.S.S. THE SALAD IS THE MAIN DISH

Inspiring words from Dr. Joel Fuhrman:

"...Raw vegetable consumption showed the strongest protective effect against cancer of any beneficial food. However, fewer than one in a hundred Americans consumes enough calories from vegetation to ensure this defense."

"I tell my patients to put a big sign on their refrigerator that says, "THE SALAD IS THE MAIN DISH."

"The word SALAD here means any vegetable eaten, raw or uncooked...I encourage my patients to eat two huge salads a day, with the goal of consuming an entire head of romaine or other green lettuce daily. I suggest that you go and make the sign and tape it to your fridge now--and then come back. If you plan on doing it later, you may forget. If you learn but one practical habit from this book, let it be this one."

Feel inspired yet???