CREAMY VEGAN BBQ RANCH DRESSING (GLUTEN-FREE, OIL-FREE)

Vegan BBQ Ranch Dressing is a creamy dreamy dressing worth slathering on everything from salads to tacos & burritos! This healthy salad dressing is vegan, oil-free and gluten-free! It also has a nut-free option to make it allergy friendly.

This Creamy Vegan BBQ Ranch Dressing is an old favorite!

It has been with me since the beginning of my vegan journey. It started out as a vegan mayo-based dressing, but that quickly changed as I became more health-conscious. I replaced the mayo with cashews and non-dairy milk, then added a few more seasonings for the perfect dressing.

HOW TO SOAK CASHEWS?

For an ideal creaminess, this dressing is best with soaked cashews.

You can use one of the 3 methods in my soaking cashews post. Or follow the simple steps below for my favorite way to soak cashews.

1. Bring about a cup of water to a boil, then turn off the heat.

2. Toss the cashews in and let them soak for 15-20 minutes, or until softened.

3. Drain and rinse the softened cashews.

The cashews can also be soaked overnight. Place them in a lidded bowl. Pour in enough fresh water to cover the cashews. The next morning, drain and rinse the softened cashews.

WHAT ELSE CAN I USE THIS CREAMY DRESSING ON?

The only way to find out how irresistible this dressing is to give it a taste! After mixing in the parsley and chives, I dare you to give the spoon a lick. It's that good!

It's practically impossible to avoid slathering this stuff on more than just salads! Liven up your tacos, burritos, and tostadas with this healthier dressing.

It's an amazing sauce!

CREAMY BBQ RANCH DRESSING

(VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE, OIL-FREE)

BBQ ranch dressing is worth slathering on everything from salads to tacos & burritos! This healthier dressing is vegan, oil-free and gluten-free! It also has a nut-free option to make it 100% allergy friendly.

yield: 3 small salads

prep time: 10 minutes

total time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked

• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk, or more as needed to thin

• 2 Tablespoons BBQ sauce of choice

• 1-2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 1 Tablespoons fresh chives

• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt

• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

• Pepper to taste

• Optional: cayenne pepper or chipotle powder for some added heat

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place all the ingredients (except parsley and chives) into a NutriBullet or high speed blender. Blend until creamy.

2. Pour the dressing into a lidded storage container and stir-in the parsley and chives.

3. Place the dressing in the fridge to cool for at least 30 min to an hour before serving. If needed, add more non-dairy milk to achieve desired consistency.

4. Enjoy this creamy BBQ ranch drizzled over your favourite salads, tacos or burritos.

NOTES

• Allergy Friendly Dressing: To create an allergy friendly Creamy BBQ Ranch Dressing, replace the cashews with an equal amount of sunflower seeds or hemp seeds. If using sunflower seeds, soak and process them per the cashew instructions.

• For extra dressing double the recipe.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Yield: 3 small salads Serving Size: 1 small salad Amount Per Serving: Calories: 149Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 23mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 6g

**Nutritional info is provided as an estimate based on the ingredients I used and for convenience and as a courtesy only.**

SPINACH SALAD WITH TAHINI DRESSING

This spinach salad with tahini dressing is not only healthy but delicious too! I never thought spinach salads would be so good! The hemp oil-tahini dressing makes this spinach salad taste divine!

Because of my recent detox diet, I started experimenting with new salad and dressing recipes. I discovered that I absolutely love hemp oil and tahini! In this case, I combined the two ingredients and made an amazing tahini dressing!

This tahini dressing can turn any boring salad recipe into a delicious treat! It’s also ready really fast! Besides that, this spring spinach salad also contains radishes and a great seeds mix for some extra crunchiness!

Hope you’ll like this fresh spinach salad recipe and if you want to learn more about the health benefits of spinach and why you should eat it more often, read below. 😉

All you need to know about spinach

You probably don’t think much about spinach, you might even think it a bit bland and inconspicuous, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its wonders. Especially when it comes to the benefits that it brings to your health. Popeye might have been a bit exaggerated, but he was definitely on to something.

Not many cares about having a strong spinach presence in their diet, so that’s why today I want to make an effort and help you change your mind. Spinach is delicious and it is wonderful for your body and your health. You should have more of it, not less. So let’s take a look at what it has to offer and the ways you can add it to your everyday life.

Spinach Benefits

Spinach is rich in many positive things for your body. Let’s start with the fact that it contains an antioxidant known as alpha-lipoic acid. This antioxidant has been proven to lower glucose levels, increase insulin sensitivity, and prevent oxidative stress-induced changes. All of these are afflictions that diabetics go through and spinach can help them greatly.

Spinach also helps prevent cancer because it contains chlorophyll; this has been shown to block carcinogenic effects of heterocyclic amines. Spinach is also rich in a nutrient called beta-carotene, among many others; this nutrient reduces the risks of developing asthma.

It’s also a rich source of potassium which helps reduce high blood pressure, and it can also help fight back the effects of sodium. Vitamin K is also present in spinach, which is great news for your bones! It modifies bone matrix proteins, and it also improves calcium absorption.

Spinach is a great source of fiber which helps prevent constipation, and it promotes a healthy digestive tract. It also helps you feel fuller for longer without having to intake extra calories; this is great to help you on your weight loss journey. Vitamin A is also a big part of spinach, and it can help you with hair and skin health by keeping them moisturized and growing!

In a cup of raw spinach you’ll find: 27 calories, 0.86 grams of protein, 30 milligrams of calcium, 0.81 grams of iron, 24 milligrams of magnesium, 167 milligrams of potassium, 2,813 micrograms of Vitamin A, 58 micrograms of folate and also vitamin K, fiber, phosphorus, thiamine, iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium.

How to Include Spinach in Your Diet

It’s very simple to add spinach to your food; you can start by adding it to your everyday smoothies. You can try different combinations like mango, berries, orange, pineapple, or any of your favourite fruits. Just remember to add a bit of spinach; it doesn’t have a strong flavour, so you’ll be getting all of the benefits without even noticing it’s there.

Add them to your salads as well! That’s what baby spinach is for, so mix it with other salad greens, veggies, nuts, and even fruits! It will definitely add texture and an extra flavour. You can also add spinach to your scrambled eggs and omelets to make a hearty breakfast.

Likewise, you can always add a bit of spinach to your soup, and you can sneak it into your pasta salsas! Just chop it up finely, and it will add a little extra flavour to your pasta. You can also try wilting it really quickly with a little olive oil, garlic, and salt; you can have this with some toast as a part of your breakfast or as a healthy snack.

Those are just a few of the ways you can incorporate spinach into your everyday meals. Try them out!

General Facts about Spinach

• Spinach belongs to the amaranth family and is related to beets and quinoa.

• It has its roots in Persia, but is now produced mostly in the United States and China.

• China is the world’s largest spinach producer with 85% of global production.

• Spinach loses nutritional value with each passing day. It’s better to eat it fresh!

• There are a few varieties of spinach: Savoy, flat/smooth leaf spinach and semi-savoy.

• In the 30’s, spinach growers in the United States credited Popeye with a 33% increase in domestic consumption.

• Medieval artists extracted green pigment from spinach to use as an ink or paint.

• It contains 15 different vitamins and minerals.

Bottom line is spinach is great for you and for everyone! So do yourself a favour and don’t ignore it anymore. Find ways to include it to your everyday life, and you’ll see all of the positive changes of leading a healthier life.

Spring Spinach Salad with Tahini Dressing

This spring spinach salad with tahini dressing is not only healthy but delicious too! The hemp oil-tahini dressing makes this spinach salad taste divine!

PREP TIME : 10 mins TOTAL TIME : 10 mins SERVINGS : 2 generous servings

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups spinach chopped

• 6 radishes sliced

• 1 cup ramps/wild garlic leaves chopped

• 1/2 cup scallions chopped

• 2 Tbsps raw seeds of choice (I used pine, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds)

Dressing:

• 4 Tbsps cold-pressed hemp oil you can use extra-virgin olive oil if you don't have hemp oil

• 1 lemon's juice

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 2 Tbsps tahini

• some water only if the dressing is too thick

INSTRUCTIONS

• Make the dressing. Add all ingredients together and mix well.

• Rinse well and chop the greens and veggies. Mix them together. Serve with seeds on top.

• Add dressing only right before serving the salad.

Want more salad ideas? Try these 10 Delicious and Healthy Veggie Salads. They’re all vegetarian and delicious!

CELERIAC SALAD WITH AVOCADO MAYO DRESSING

This celeriac salad with avocado mayo dressing will even satisfy the taste buds of the pickiest eaters! This salad is both crunchy and moist and has a very interesting blend of flavours. Raw vegan and healthy too!

Avocado mayo is bliss! I just love it! I recently started eating more avocados, as I finally learned how to pick them right! Now I almost always have at least one avocado in the house. I usually add them to salads or use them in desserts, but I’ve never tried avocado mayo until now! Well, no more regular egg-based mayo for me from now on!

Why celeriac?

Celeriac is one of my favourite root vegetables. I love celeriac juice, celeriac salad, and celeriac soup! Everything with celeriac si simply great. What I don’t like about it, though, is that it’s pretty difficult to peel and grate. I always ask somebody else to grate celeriac for me :). By the way, have you ever tried celeriac puree? Pure awesomeness!

I’m sure you’ll love this celeriac noodle salad as much as I do! It has such an amazing blend of textures. The crunchy celeriac noodles go great with the creamy avocado dressing and soft, pickled red bell peppers. The flavours are just perfect together. I also added some mustard in the avocado mayo, and it made it even better! Plus, look at it! It has such lovely colours! 🙂

The corn flakes are entirely optional. I added them for two reasons: they look nice, and they add some extra crunch.

This celeriac salad is raw vegan, macrobiotic and perfect for summer! It will be ready in 10-15 minutes and serves 4. Enjoy! 🙂

Celeriac Salad with Avocado Mayo Dressing

This celeriac salad with avocado mayo dressing is both crunchy and moist! Raw vegan too!

PREP TIME : 15 mins TOTAL TIME : 15 mins SERVINGS : 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 4-5 cups grated celeriac - grated using a mandoline noodles

• 5-6 pickled red bell peppers slices cut lengthwise

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped

• corn flakes optional, for some extra crunch

• sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Avocado mayo dressing:

• 1 ripe avocado

• 1/4 lemon juiced

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 1 Tbsp mustard

• 1-2 garlic cloves mashed

• 3 Tbsps olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

• Grate celeriac using a mandoline. Select the blade which will grate it in a thin, noodle-like shape. See the photos. Place the grated celeriac in a large bowl.

• Add sliced pickled red bell peppers and fresh chopped parsley.

• Make avocado mayo dressing: Add all ingredients except oil in the bowl of your food processor and blend until smooth. Drizzle the oil slowly into the processor while blending.

• Add avocado mayo over the celeriac noodles in the bowl and mix.

• When serving, add corn flakes on top. (optional)