This is an easy salad dressing that I threw together quickly for dinner. For this recipe, I would definitely use a high speed blender like the Vitamix, so that everything is finely blended, and there are no chunks of onion in your salad dressing. I also kept the sugar low on this recipe, but if you like your dressing on the sweeter side, I would substitute in honey and increase the amount.
When I was a raw vegan, I used to buy the raw basil arugula pesto from the Santa Monica Co-op and eat it by the spoon. This was my attempt to make my own version, although it turned out a bit less creamy and a bit more garlicky, which suits me just fine since I love garlic. If I start to get sick I normally eat some chopped raw garlic with honey, but I might just make this instead, since it tasted so delicious. It will definitely make the garlic go down easy.
I love cucumbers for dipping, but this would also go great with some fresh summer tomatoes. Yummmm.
I attempted to make raw mustard. I wasn’t crazy about the results so I turned it into honey mustard, which came out great! Thankfully, I didn’t have to toss out all the expensive organic ingredients. I used trader joe’s organic raw honey, although normally I prefer Honey Pacifica at my farmer’s market. They can be pricey though, and I wasn’t sure how this experiment would turn out. The trader joe’s honey is still delicious, but I normally prefer to purchase products in glass, preferably locally sourced. Despite that, I’m really happy with the results and plan on incorporating this into some future recipes.
I’m calling my first attempt raw mustard seed paste in my raw honey mustard recipe. Since my first attempt is really concentrated, it’s great for making a bunch of homemade gifts. You could get maybe three or four honey mustard jars from the one batch of raw mustard seed paste, which uses only one cup of mustard seeds, so it’s a pretty economical gift if you use a less expensive honey. I get organic mustard seeds from Handy Pantry, which specializes in sprouting seeds. I use these to grow mustard sprouts, in pickling recipes, and grinded up in curry powders.
½ tsp cumin (optional, will likely skip next time)
¼ tsp turmeric (optional, will likely skip next time)
16 oz of raw honey
Instructions
Combine mustard seeds, apple cider vinegar, and water for a couple days. If it sits out for a week it's still okay.
Blend in Vitamix, and add (optional) spices. Turmeric will give it the yellow mustard color. I'm likely leave out these spices next time, and experiment with different seasonings.
Take honey out of jar and mix with mustard seed paste.
Taste test to desired mustard flavor strength, then add back to honey container.
Mima, Shameer’s East African grandmother, makes this amazing chutney that is served with every meal she’s made me. If you’re wondering what type of cuisine that’s closest to, it’s Indian food including meat, but no pork. This chutney is traditionally served as a hot sauce or condiment for Indian food, like Americans and their ketchup. I’ve also used it to dip carrots and cucumbers. If you add your favorite oil, it also makes a great salad dressing. You could also mix it into your favorite recipes for some added spiciness. Mima mixes it into almost all of her Indian dishes.
Mima doesn’t have a Vitamix, so she grates her garlic and ginger ahead of time and stores it in vinegar to have on hand for making this chutney quickly. My Vitamix purees the garlic and ginger whole, so I don’t have to worry about that step. She also used store bought lemon juice, and washes out her blender with the lemon juice to get the last of the chutney from the blender. Personally, I don’t bother, as fresh lemon juice is a pain to make, and I don’t want to make extra for this step. You can also vary the spiciness by keeping more seeds in the serrano or adding in a different pepper. Be careful not to touch your eyes!
Cut serrano pepper in half and scoop out most of seeds. The few seeds left will be plenty of heat.
Blend ingredients in Vitamix. If you don't have a Vitamix grate garlic and ginger ahead of time (about 1 tbsp each) and then add to regular blender with more lemon juice as needed to blend ingredients.
