Summer is here (at least in the Northern hemisphere)! Here’s a recipe for vegan ranch

I don’t know about you, but I love a good salad or two during the warmer months of summer. I tend to just throw something together in a bowl, some salad leaves, raw veggies, oven roasted root vegetables, beans or legumes, air fried tofu, etc. etc.

The key to a tasty salad is the dressing. And in the plant-based whole foods world, there are countless ways to make a healthy vegan version of pretty much any dressing.

Today I want to share with you a do-it-from-scratch vegan ranch dressing.

Vegan ranch dressing on top of raw veggies, chickpeas and roasted sweet potato - a great salad combo.

The recipe yields about 1 cup of dressing and takes only 5 minutes to make (in addition to 1 hour soaking time).

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in warm water for at least 1 hour

• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (“nooch”)

• 1 tsp. mustard (I tend to use dijon, but yellow works as well)

• 1 garlic clove (or more, depending on how big a fan of garlic you are)

• 1 cup water

• 1/2 tsp. parsley (dried or fresh)

• 1/2 tsp. chives (dried or fresh)

• Pinch of dill

• Pinch of onion powder

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Drain and rinse the cashews.

2. Add all the ingredients to a blender, starting with half of the water.

3. Blend on high until the dressing is smooth and creamy.

4. Add water as needed, depending on your preferred consistency.

Notes:

You can play around with the seasoning until you find something that fits your palette.

I sometimes use capers and caper juice as well, then ca. 1 tsp. of both.

And remember: you will need a bigger bowl than you think for any salad, this is one of life’s great mysteries.

Bon appetit!

xo Bee