Tag Archives: no-oil salad dressing

Mexican-Spiced Roasted Vegetable Sandwich with Green Chile-Chipotle-Cilantro Dressing

Roasted Veg SandwichFor the sloppiest sandwich ever, look no further.  Tons of spicy roasted veggies and a quick guac topped with my Sweet & Tangy Green Chile-Chipotle-Cilantro Dressing.  Go at it with a fork and knife or bare hands and a bib.

(I shared this recipe on The Veggie Nook for Healthy Vegan Friday!)

Mexican-Spiced Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches
Makes 4-5

Roasted Vegetables:
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 heaping tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. dried onion flakes
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. Chipotle Tabasco
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
1 small eggplant, sliced into rounds
1 small yellow squash, sliced into rounds
1 small zucchini, sliced into rounds
4-5 cremini mushrooms, quartered
4-5 baby red or white potatoes, thinly sliced
juice of 1/2 a lime
chopped cilantro, for garnish

Guacamole:
2 avocados
1/2 tsp. cumin
splash Chipotle Tabasco
juice of 1/2 a lime

Sweet & Tangy Green Chile-Chipotle-Cilantro Dressing, to taste

4 really good, crusty rolls (that’s homemade pan Siciliano in the photos), sliced

Make the vegetables:
Preheat the oven to 425F. In a large bowl, combine the broth through the potatoes and toss to coat the veggies with the sauce.

Roast the vegetables until tender – stirring occasionally – for 25-30 minutes. You can serve these right away, stirring in the lime juice and cilantro, or eat at room temperature.

Make the guacamole:
In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the cumin, Tabasco, and lime juice. Set aside.

Build the sandwich:
Lightly toast or warm the bread halves. Divide the guacamole between the bottom halves of the bread. Top with roasted veggies, drizzle with dressing and sprinkle on more cilantro, if desired.

Veg Sandwich

Roasted Veg Sandwich

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Sweet & Tangy Green Chile-Chipotle-Cilantro Dressing. Oil-free.

Dressing in BottleOne of the biggest stumbling blocks I encountered after making the decision to severely reduce the amount of oil I used in cooking and baking was how to make salad dressing.  I was completely stumped.  Red wine vinaigrette with copious amounts of olive oil had been my go-to dressing.  For ideas I turned to Ann Esselstyn’s recipes in Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  They filled the gap, but I wasn’t thrilled with them; I needed a whole heck of a lot more flavor.  Adding nuts to a basic oil-free dressing created that nice, creamy richness I craved and took the edge off of the tang of vinegar.  From there it was just a matter of adding my favorite flavors.

This recipe has been shared on Healthy Vegan Friday!

Oil-free Sweet & Tangy Green Chile-Chipotle-Cilantro Salad Dressing
Makes 2 cups

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lager beer
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup pepitas
juice of 1 lime
2 oz. chopped green chiles
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. Chipotle Tabasco
1/8 tsp. chile powder
1/8 tsp. coriander
pinch salt & black pepper
small handful of cilantro
1 small nub of fresh turmeric
1 clove garlic
1 date

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until very smooth.

Dressing in Spoon.

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Other People’s Food (5): Green Beans and An Oil-free Salad Dressing

Green Beans in Pot

A bit of a cheater post, this.  The beautiful green (and purple and yellow) beans came from a neighbor’s garden – have I told you about Bountiful, Utah yet?  Everything grows like mad here. Could be why it’s called Bountiful.  Maybe?  Anyway, the beans came from a garden just up the road and the no-oil salad dressing recipe came from the Divine Ms. B at The Veg Bar (who I wish was just up the road; I’d love to hang out with her).

This is true: I read Bar’s post, looked through the recipe and immediately shut down the computer and went into the kitchen to make it.  Within a couple of minutes I had a lovely little jar full of tangy, herby dressing*.  I had no plans for how I was going to use it until this gigantic bag of colorful beans arrived.  Lightly steamed beans and zucchini – and cherry tomatoes (also from the aforementioned garden) that I tossed in at the last minute – topped with Bar’s easy, no-oil dressing.  A quick and summery side dish or main course if the heat has you craving only salads.

Basil No-Oil Dressing

*Minor tweaks: subbed unsweetened coconut yogurt for silken tofu because I didn’t have any; used Thai basil since that’s what I had on hand; omitted the agave nectar because I felt the coconut yogurt was still sweet enough to compensate and threw in a splash of Bragg Liquid Aminos. Toasted walnuts would go very nicely scattered over the top of this bean salad.

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Oil-Free Tomato, Kalamata & Miso Salad Dressing

Dressing in BowlWhen it comes to salad dressing, I’m on auto-pilot.  It takes me mere seconds to whip up an oil-free vinaigrette and it’s really light and wonderful – but – it’s getting a bit tired.  Enter the ripe tomatoes Kel has been bringing in from the garden.  In went some olives and miso because everything tastes better with them.  The dates temper the tangy acid and the vegetable broth lends richness.  Takes almost as much time to make this as it does my old standby dressing.  Vary this by using fresh herbs instead of dry or a different vinegar.

Oil-free Tomato, Kalamata & Miso Salad Dressing
Enough for a few big salads

1 large ripe tomato, cored and cut into big chunks
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. vegetable broth
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
2 small pitted dates, chopped
8 pitted kalamata olives
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp. brown rice miso paste
pinch black pepper
pinch dried oregano
pinch dried basil

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Dressing in Clear Bowl

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Sleepwalk Southwest Bean & Rice Salad

Southwest SaladMy kitchen mojo has been a little spotty lately so my weekly menus have been stacked with meals I can prepare without needing much time or brain power.  Right now I need to be able to sleepwalk through dinner prep.

But even a detailed shopping list isn’t a guarantee that dinner will turn out as planned.  About an hour before this salad was due to hit the table, I realized that I’d somehow made it home from the grocery store without buying all of the necessary ingredients – despite the fact that they had been written (somewhat eligibly, it’s true) right there on the list.  So, using the base ingredients that I had on hand, I completely switched around the flavors of the original recipe  and traveled from Southeast Asia to South of the Border.

Southwest Bean & Rice Salad
Serves 4-6

Salad:
2 14 oz. cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 medium green, red, yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup cooked and cooled brown rice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, peeled and chopped, optional

Dressing:
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup red wine or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. chipotle in adobo sauce
dash Chipotle Tabasco
salt & pepper to taste

Combine the dressing ingredients in a big bowl and whisk to combine. Add all of the remaining ingredients, except for the avocado, and stir gently to combine. Let sit for a while so that the flavors can get acquainted.

To serve, top with chopped avocado.

Southwest Salad Aerial Shot

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7 Days of Salad. Day 6: Red Quinoa & Green Apple (and Making Vegan Butter)

Quinoa CollageBig thanks go out to Holly at My Plant-based Family and to Averil at The Cook, The Baker and the Clay Boy Maker for sharing The Versatile Blogger and The Sunshine Awards with me.  Woohoo!  I really appreciate the recognition from these two wonderful women and am enjoying their posts and getting to know them both.  Please take some time to check out their blogs.

A few years ago, I had no idea what quinoa was.  And when I first saw it, I had my suspicions of the tiny little “seeds” with the funny curly-Qs, but now it’s standard fare in our house.  We love the taste, appreciate its versatility and rely on its wonderful health benefits.  But a recent article in the New York Times, Quinoa’s Global Success Creates Quandary At Home, put a different perspective on this chenopod (or goosefoots – love that name).  Because of high demand for quinoa in Europe and America, less Bolivians are able to afford to eat the crop that they grow – and they’re suffering nutritionally (quinoa is considered exceptional in the plant kingdom for its balance of nutrients) as a result.  Makes one pause and think about where one’s food comes from – and it makes me even more appreciative of this special plant.

This recipe comes from a book called Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking, by Susan O’Brien.  This is not a vegan cookbook, but there are some really inventive recipes in it and one of these days I’m going to dive into her desserts.  I didn’t change a thing with this salad, except that I used cabbage instead of red pepper, because I didn’t have one.  It’s one of those salads that you could add almost anything to – steamed asparagus, navy beans, celery, tofu, crumbled tempeh bacon, nuts – nearly endless possibilities.  But what really drew me to this salad is that the dressing contains no oil – just the way I like to make it.

(Ahem.  Speaking of fat…Below this recipe is a link to a recipe to make vegan butter…)

Red Quinoa & Green Apple Salad
Serves 4-6

1 cup red or white quinoa, rinsed if necessary (some come pre-rinsed)
2 cups water
1/2 cup green cabbage, chopped
1/3 cup red onion
1/2 cup carrot, chopped or grated
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 tbsp. vegetable broth
salt & pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large Granny Smith or other tart apple, cored and chopped

Combine the quinoa and the water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and cook, covered, for 10-15 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed.  Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine the cabbage, red onion, carrot, parsley, apple cider vinegar, vegetable broth, salt, pepper and garlic.  Add the cooled quinoa and the chopped apple, stirring gently.  Serve as is, or over a bed of fresh greens.

On a side note…Yesterday I made maybe the coolest thing ever – and it was really simple.  I may never go back to Earth Balance or store-bought shortening again.  Thanks to Keepin’ It Kind, I found out how to make my own butter.  Check out her post, then go to the original recipe here.  There is all kinds of interesting science involved, but my eyes started to glaze over (much like they did in high school chemistry class) and I skipped down to the recipes.  It’s really fun, easy and best of all, you know what’s going into it (though, yes, it’s still fat).  And there are all kinds of variations, many of which I’m planning on trying soon.

Vegan Butter

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White Bean, Asparagus & Artichoke Heart Salad

White Bean SaladAs I was preparing this salad, a mass of rain clouds was stalled just to our west threatening a deluge of rain, thunder and lightning.  By the time the salad was in the refrigerator, ready for dinner that evening, the temperature outside had dropped from the 70s into the 50s.  Not exactly salad weather.  I guess I’d been a bit premature with the warm weather foods – it had been toasty warm for days.  Kel even had the gumption to put away his winter coat.  Come to think of it, that’s probably what brought the colder weather.

Anyway, a plan is a plan so dinner that night was a nice, cool salad.  Served up with warm biscuits and a cup of steaming hot green tea, it felt mighty cozy inside as we watched the rain come down.

White Bean, Asparagus & Artichoke Heart Salad
Serves 4

1 15 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can white beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces
1/3 cup thinly sliced radishes (I used watermelon radishes – pretty!)
4-5 scallions, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp. orange juice
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. French mustard
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
splash soy sauce
salt & pepper to taste
fresh basil, for garnish

Lightly steam or microwave the asparagus.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the garlic, orange juice, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, mustard, nutritional yeast, soy sauce and salt and pepper.  (No, I did not forget the oil.)   Add the artichoke hearts, beans, asparagus, radishes and scallions, stirring to combine.

Serve over a bed of fresh greens, if desired and top with basil.

Asparagus Spears

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Stealing From Friends: Raw Brussels Sprout Salad with Fennel, Cherries & Tempeh Bacon

Salad in White BowlI won’t say who, but one of us in the household loves and appreciates that wee, sweet cabbage, the Brussels sprout.  One of us could live the rest of his days never spearing his fork into another one of the adorable, little green globes.  In a last ditch effort to save the Brussels sprout from permanent exile, I had to give this salad a try – featured on my friend Nancy’s (beautiful) blog, LoveLaughVeggies in her post Raw?  No Way!  I did make some changes.  The original has Parmesan cheese and olive oil – neither of which reside in my home (yes, they have been permanently exiled).  To start things off, I decided to use a variation of my No-Oil Salad Dressing.  I thought the orange juice would make a sweet-tart companion to the raw sprouts.  Shallots added the bite that was needed.  And then I went from there.  The happy ending is that both of us in the household now enjoy eating Brussels sprouts.

A quick thanks here to Lidia for re-posting Tuesday’s diatribe about school lunches, The Vegan Option, on VeganBloggersUnite! – if you haven’t checked out VBU, please do so, it’s a really cool site.  You can also find VBU on Facebook and Twitter.

Raw Brussels Sprout Salad with Fennel, Cherries & Tempeh Bacon
Serves 4

Salad:
1/2 lb. Brussels sprouts
1 large head fennel, top trimmed and roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 tsp. orange zest
crumbled tempeh bacon (about 2 slices per serving), optional

Chopped Brussel Sprouts

Dressing:
6 tbsp. orange juice
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
pinch salt

Fennel Seeds in Pestle

In a large bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.  Set aside.

Bowl with DressingIn a food processor, chop the Brussels sprouts (you may have to work in batches) until finely chopped.  Add to the bowl with the salad dressing.  Process the fennel and the carrots in the same way and add to the Brussels sprouts.  Add the cherries, walnuts and orange zest and stir well to combine. Divide among four bowls and crumble tempeh bacon on top of each salad, if desired.

Serve!

(The dressing on this is very light – I like it that way – but feel free to play around with the amounts of the various ingredients.  Subbing apple juice for the orange juice would be nice – along with adding shredded tart apple instead of the cherries.  Keep the fennel – it’s outstanding!)

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