Summer is the season to invent delicious new salad dressings. The bounty of veg is just too much to stick with the go-to “salad hug”, everything needs to be complimented, just so. Bring out the best of those juicy little cherry tomatoes, a little salty zing to that fresh cucumber, a breath of fresh air to those beets that’ve been underground, until now. It can’t hurt to add a touch of good asiago or parmesan cheese to the mix, something about balsamic just begs to be indulged with cheese. Roasted sunflower seeds are your ally when it comes to making something amorphous taste rich and full. This recipe for creamy sunflower seed balsamic dressing is vegan (if you don’t put cheese in your salad!) and paleo but you’d never know it, for real. It’s a trick of a dressing that even the pickiest child should love.
Colorful salad components will vary based on what’s in your fridge. Mine consisted of kale, baby lettuce greens, shredded beets & carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, quick pickled radish and asiago cheese. It was gooooood. The next day I had just a big bunch of greens with this creamy balsamic and an egg on top, yum. The recipe makes 500mL or 16 oz. worth of dressing, which lasts for quite a few salads. Unless your like me and enjoy more dressing than actual vegetables sometimes…
Yesterday was a little trip to our new home in Kaslo. Things I noticed: everyone was fishing- this is a good sign, the neighbours across the street had a visitor who road their horse over and tied it up beside the front door (we should go back to that mode of transport, how fun would that be), people like babies (phewf) and basically the best view from a swing set on the planet (wish we had a photo), there are plenty of medicinal and edible plants everywhere. Looking forward to nestling in to a gem of a place.
Old school Canadian relic from the archives
Ingredients
- 3/4 C raw sunflower seeds
- 3/4 C olive oil
- 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbs coconut sugar or honey
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 C water (maybe a bit less depending on how thick you want the dressing)
- generous amount of fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Heat a skillet on high for about 1 minute, turn the heat to low and add sunflower seeds to the pan, let them get nice and brown, this only takes a few minutes, make sure to stir them around so they're all evenly toasted.
- Allow the seeds to cool.
- Add all ingredients except water to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth, adding water as you go to achieve the desired consistency.
