Cooking Through “The Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook” – Jane’s Favorite 3, 2, 1 Dressing

Jane’s Favorite 3, 2, 1 Dressing from page 174

This is a wonderful, basic salad dressing. Use this as a starting point to all kinds of delicious salads. I tried several different variations and they were all fantastic.

The basic 3, 2, 1 dressing is all over the internet. Here is one place I found it. The difference in this one is that it calls for the addition of some lemon juice.

The first one I tried was the exact recipe from the book with plain balsamic vinegar. This is my favorite balsamic.

This was delicious, but I wanted to try different variations. Not one was a disappointment. Most of the time I used them on green salad, but it was also great in a quinoa salad with veggies.

Here are some of the combinations I tried.

Plain balsamic, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, lemon juice

Blood orange balsamic, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, lemon juice

Fig balsamic, spicy brown mustard, honey, lemon juice (this was my favorite)

Pomegranate balsamic, spicy brown mustard, honey, lemon juice

I found that I liked the dressing better with honey instead of maple syrup. It added a more subtle sweetness and a depth of flavor that was lacking with the maple syrup.

The recipe says that it makes 1/3 cup. The lemon I had was very large, so I ended up doubling the rest of the ingredients. When I did that, I got 2/3 cup, so it was pretty much on target.

Instead of whisking, I blended everything in my NutriBullet.

This had a wonderful mouth feel.  You don’t even realize that you are eating dressing made without oil.  You can even use a lot of dressing and not feel guilty.

The lemon made the dressing a little on the tart side for my taste, so I cut it down a little.

NOTES:

• Try adding different fresh herbs. Dill, parsley, basil, oregano, tarragon….these are all wonderful in a salad dressing.
• Try different mustards. Spicy brown, Dijon, yellow…they all work perfectly. Use your favorite.
• Try different flavored balsamic vinegars. Napa Valley Naturals has flavors like blood orange, fig, black cherry…they are all delicious.
• Use lime juice instead of lemon juice.
• Adjust ingredients to your taste.

Cooking Through “The Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook” – Susie Cuke Dressing

Susie Cuke Dressing from page 173

If you are like me, you will have everything on hand to try this dressing. I found the idea of using cucumber in a salad dressing a little odd, but figured how bad could it be? I put cucumber on my salad and then add another dressing, so, why not?

This clung to the salad leaves pretty well, which is important in a salad dressing. It was a very nice consistency. Sort of in between a creamy, fat filled dressing and a vinaigrette. It was light, but had a nice texture and a good mouth feel, which I think is important in a salad dressing. Let’s face it, plain lemon or vinegar is tasty on a salad, but it leaves something to be desired in how it feels in your mouth. This dressing takes care of that.

It gets body from the hummus and the cucumber, a tangy bite from the lemon juice, balsamic and rice vinegars, and a little spiciness from the garlic, mustard, and black pepper.

The recipe does not call for any salt. I used to add a little bit to salad dressings, but I’ve gotten over that. I do not add any salt to anything I make. If I really feel it needs it, I add a tiny bit at the table.

There was really not much prep to this. I already had hummus made, so making this salad dressing was really all about throwing everything in the Vitamix and blending. Voila! Nice, creamy salad dressing in less than 5 minutes.

The recipe says that it makes two cups, and that is just about how much I got.

I really liked this salad dressing, and I like the idea of getting another veggie. I also like the idea of not using nuts to add creaminess to a dressing. Honestly, if you are following an oil free diet and missing creamy type dressings, give this a try.

NOTES:

• Add more lemon for more tang.
• The recipe calls for white balsamic.  I just used regular balsamic.  The color is still light.
• So easy, no excuse not to make salad dressing.
• The recipe says to use a food processor, but a blender makes for a smoother dressing.
• I bet zucchini can be subbed out for the cucumber.
• This would make a nice dressing for potato or pasta salad.

Cooking Through “The Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook” – Breakfast Hash, Hot Stuff Dressing, Middle Eastern Chickpea Stew

Part 2 – Hot Stuff Dressing

Week Four – January 25, 2015

Hot Stuff Dressing from page 172

No…I didn’t just eat Hot Stuff Dressing, silly. I had it on my salad. A wonderful salad of romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumbers and black beans.

Let’s just get this out in the open right now….I adore nutritional yeast. There, I said it. It’s out. Now that the air is clear, let’s get into how delish this dressing is.

I’m not usually one for spicy dressings. My favorite used to be miso and tahini, but since I’m not eating any seeds at the moment, that dressing is out.

This dressing uses salsa, nooch (my beloved nutritional yeast) and some spices. Sounds good, right? I thought so too…but I wasn’t too sure how it would be on a salad. I mean, not every sauce that tastes good belongs on a salad.

Hot Stuff Dressing made my salad come alive. It was so spicy and flavorful. I gobbled up that salad and wished I had more. When was the last time you were sad to see your salad all gone? Well, I was.

This recipe makes ¾ cup, but I cut it in half just to try it. Next time, I will make the right quantity of the dressing and double the salad. It was that good.

This is most definitely one of my favorite salad dressings. I think I’ll have it for lunch tomorrow.

NOTES:

• Use different salsa for different tastes for this dressing.
• Made as directed, this dressing is super thick.  I added a few tablespoons of water prior to dressing my salad.
• If left thick, this would make a tasty, quick dip for tortilla chips or on a wrap.
• This dressing does not use any lemon or vinegar, there is no sour or acidic flavor profile going on.  Just tomatoey, spicy, cheezy goodness.