Carrot-Ginger Dressing

I love salad dressing, and if you have a pretty good blender on hand, the endless possibilities of ingredients guarantee a never ending adventure. Anything goes, really, it’s all about what flavors you like, and what a particular dressing will taste best on. The “Carrot-Ginger Dressing”, page 100, is a good example of using fresh ingredients to whip up a zesty dressing that is good on any raw vegetable salad you can imagine. You might have all the ingredients on hand already – carrots, ginger, orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, and mirin. The recipe also includes 2 tablespoons of oil, but I left that out altogether, adding a little bit of water as needed while blending to obtain the right consistency. I used it on tossed green salad made from dark leafy green lettuces, a great combination.

Keeping it “McDougall Friendly” check list:

• Omit the oil, and if necessary, add a little water to obtain desired consistency. 

Creamy Artichoke Dressing

“Creamy Artichoke Dressing”, page 101, is versatile, zesty, and tangy, and makes a great topping for crispy lettuce salads, pasta salad, or even steamed vegetables. Although the recipe calls for a jar of undrained marinated artichoke hearts, meaning packed in oil, this worked out perfectly well using a can of water packed artichoke hearts instead. My first choice was frozen artichokes, which are superior in flavor to the canned, and are also oil-free, but I couldn’t find them the day I shopped for this recipe. The remaining ingredients are garlic, fresh lemon juice, salt, and cayenne, plus additional oil, which I omitted, using water instead. Everything goes in the blender and is processed until smooth and creamy, adding the water 2 tablespoons at a time until the dressing reaches the desired consistency. Because the artichokes add a lot of bulk, there really is no need to add any thickening agent, such as guar gum, if you leave out the oil. In fact, you may find you actually need to thin it down.

This is an easy dressing to make, whips up in a flash, and one I will likely make again. I can imagine it as a dipping sauce for oven fries, and as a topping for grilled tofu, tempeh, or seitan.

Keeping it “McDougall Friendly” check list:

• Replace the ¼ cup of olive oil with water, 2 tablespoons at a time, until desired consistency is reached.