Vegan Cesar Dressing

This is Lifestyle Medicine week and today’s post is about nutrition. If food is medicine, then what kind of food should we eat? Nutrient dense food rich in fiber and micronutrients. What foods contain fiber? Plants, plants, plants. Fiber is found only in plants and studies are showing us that fiber plays an enormous role in our health. Not only does it help with satiety and keeping us regular, it plays a vital role in our gut health. You know those probiotic pills? Well fiber has been found to play a role in creating conditions for a healthy gut flora. The role of a healthy gut microbiome is being studied extensively in cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, COPD and asthma. According to NHANES data, mean fiber intake is about 16.1 grams. How much should we be getting? I would say closer to 50 grams a day. This is possible by incorporating fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains into every meal. Try adding a handful of cooked beans to a salad with some nuts and seeds to up the fiber content. You can also get fiber in salad dressings by making your own. The cashews, nutritional yeast and hemp seeds in the dressing below are all great sources of fiber as well as other nutrients.

With the weather getting hotter, and health more important than ever, incorporating a large salad is an easy way to get fiber and nutrients in your diet. Hope this dressing makes it tastier!

This is a variation from bakerita.com’s vegan cesar dressing. It is one of my favorites. It is creamy, rich, and can double as a dip as well!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 C raw cashews that have been soaked in hot water for 10-20 minutes
• 1/2 C water (use a bit more for a thinner consistency)
• 2-3 TBS hemp seeds ( I like to use 3 TBS for more protein)
• 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1TBS nutritional yeast
• 1 TBS capers and a splash of brine that they’re in
• 1 peeled garlic clove

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add the rinsed and soaked cashews into a blender along with the other ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.

NOTES:

The original recipe has oil and salt in the ingredients. I usually leave these out of most recipes, if not all. In this recipe the brine from the capers, the capers themselves plus the lemon juice give enough bite that I don’t miss the salt. The cashews provide the richness and fats, therefore I leave the oil out. If you would like to follow the original recipe check out https://www.bakerita.com/vegan-caesar-dressing-dairy-free-paleo-whole30/.