Thursday, September 23, 2010

Raw Caesar Dressing

It's officially Autumn.   You know how you can just tell when the seasons change, it's the feeling in the air?  I'm already missing the longer days.   We have a pick-your-own Apple Farm up the road that I pass a couple of times a day taking Keaton to and from school  and they already have these really huge, bright orange pumpkins growing.  At the farms there are quite a few autumn/winter squash available too, and so realising that summer is gone, I gave in and bought my first seasonal squash, a nice delicata. It's also the season for baking to begin so I need to stock up on all my baking ingredients.  During the summer I'm not much into baking just because it heats up the house and there is so much fruit available to eat as is, in it's natural state.  Don't get me wrong or anything, I'm not going to pass up a berry pie.
Move over bell peppers,the Italians are in town! Sweeter and tastier than bells, what's not to love about Italians. Yummmmm... I've tried growing these and not much happened, so I was so happy to see these beautiful red Italians sitting there on the table of the onion/garlic guy at the Farmers Market.  Last night at the F.M. I was telling him how much I loved these beauties, he agreed, and he said he was selling alot more of them than his bells.  2 for $1 and his Anahiems are 3 for $1.

Blackened Tofu w/Raw Caesar Dressing on romaine with grilled veggies.  The blackened tofu recipe actually comes from The Real Food Daily cookbook but it's used with tempeh, I just didn't have tempeh on hand.  I also cut way down on the oil that's in the recipe.
I've  made a couple of different versions of caesar dressing but I really love the Raw Caesar Dressings best.  The recipe below is one of our favorite raw dressings, especially my son. I hope you like it too.

Raw Caesar Dressing
adapted from a Woody Harrelson recipe

1/3 C. pinenuts, raw
1/4 C. cashews, raw
4 T. tahini
2-3 garlic cloves
3 T. nutritional yeast
2 green onions or 3 T. sweet onion, chopped
2 T. maple syrup or agave
3 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. olive oil or flax oil
1/2 - 1 C. water
salt & pepper to taste

In a food processor blend all ingredients together.  It can be thick so add more water
to desired consistency.

 The cool thing about this recipe is that it can be played around with, if you like garlic add more, you want more lemon, add more lemon juice.  You can also add kelp granules or dulse flakes.

12 comments:

  1. Yum..your dressing sounds good! I have got to make that. :o)
    I've never seen Italian peppers, but I sure would like to find some...they sure sound good!

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  2. this dressing sounds fabulous...I must make it. Thanks.

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  3. Yum! Raw Caesar sounds so good! Thanks for the recipe! And thanks for the kind comment on my blog! :)

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  4. hiya, JoLynn! :) it's been a while, but i thought i'd stop in and say hello. we haven't found a caesar dressing we absolutely love yet, so i'm excited to give yours a try! hooray for fall, although i too am already missing the longer days. delicata squashes = my favorite, and i've got one here that i can't wait to roast up. i've never had an italian pepper (at least not that i know of) - totally going to have to keep on eye on them. i really LOVE your new layout, too! it's fun and adorable and i love the birdies the mostest! hope all is awesome with you - and i hope to be back to blogging super soon!

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  5. I've been looking for a good caesar dressing. The blackened tofu looks good too. :-)

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  6. That dressing sounds delicious! I feel the change too, even though it's like 100 degrees here in Davis, CA.

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  7. VegSpinz-It must be all of CA that's feeling the heat because I'm in Solvang, CA and it was 105 today. Ughhhh.

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  8. I've been trying for ages to come up with the perfect Caesar dressing, and I haven't quite gotten it yet... I'll have to try your recipe next!

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  9. I love the autumn and all the wonderful fruits and vegetables that come along with it. Pretty soon it will be soups and stews - mmmmm! I must say, that tofu looks pretty darn tasty.

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  10. The dressing sounds really good, and I've never had blackened tofu before. Interesting! I'll bet my husband would like that.

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