Salad dressing recipes using tofu

Since I’ve discovered that I have food sensitivities, the biggest challenge has been salad dressings! Most store bought salad dressings contain sugar, even the more natural ones you find at the health food store. After balsamic vinegar and olive oil got too boring, I decided to make my own salad dressing recipes using soft tofu.

I came up with four types of salad dressings, as shown above:

• Sundried Tomato, Basil and Balsamic Vinegar salad dressing
• Spicy Ginger Sesame salad dressing
• Creamy Italian salad dressing
• and Dill and Lime salad dressing

These two salad dressing recipes are based on ones I found in Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler with a few changes. The other two salad dressing recipes that I’ll feature in my next post are  inspired by the cookbook, but are totally my own.

Dill and Lime Salad Dressing

Makes 3/4 cup of dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/4 pound soft tofu
• 1 teaspoon Coconut Manna or high quality olive oil (optional)
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch of black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or mini-food processor.
2. Blend until ingredients are combined and the dressing is creamy.

Creamy Italian Salad Dressing

Makes 3/4 cup of dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/4 pound soft tofu
• 1 teaspoon high quality olive oil (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch of black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or mini-food processor.
2. Blend until ingredients are combined and the dressing is creamy.

This Mama’s Tips

• When cooking with tofu, buy organic and non-GMO tofu if at all possible. At my grocery store, sometimes the organic stuff is cheaper than the tofu made from conventionally grown soybeans.
• You can find Coconut Manna at Whole Foods. It ads a bit of nutty sweetness to the dressing.
• The Dill and Lime Salad Dressing would be terrific on fish or as an alternative to tartar sauce.
• You want to use a high quality, somewhat light olive oil, because you’ll be able to really taste it in these homemade salad dressing recipes.
• If you don’t have lime, you can use lemon juice instead in the Dill and Lime Salad Dressing.
• Both sauces would make terrific dips for vegetables, for meat cooked in oil fondues or grilled meats and seafood.
• Most quantities are to taste. If you want to add more dill or oregano, go for it! Experiment and have fun.
• If the dressing is too thick, add a little water or unsweetened soy milk.
• Put leftover in a container and keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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Posted on March 21, 2011 in Recipes and tagged as tofu

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