I love a good salad. For years I’ve been making just about anything into a salad. Instead of a hamburger on a bun, I throw it (and the pickles too!) on a pile of romaine lettuce. I take dinner leftovers – whether it’s beans and grilled veggies or roasted chicken – and stack it on top of mixed greens. Rarely do I follow a salad recipe. I just put the foods I love on some lettuce and chow down.
Salad dressing, though, is a whole different monster. I used to feel good about buying organic dressings and dressings that touted real food ingredients. That all changed when I stumbled across Disease Proof Your Child and Eat to Live. After trying a few of the dressing recipes in those books, I decided I didn’t want to eat the bottled stuff which was mostly preservatives and gums with some seasonings threw in.
So, I started making my own dressings. Not that I hadn’t made them before but now I make them with a commitment to add nutritional value to the salad, not just add some tasty sauce.
I wasn’t going to post this recipe because, well, it’s purplish-blue. And Joe wasn’t sure he wanted to use it on his salads. But, I was at Alta’s for her Memorial Day cookout and she had a bright pink raspberry vinaigrette. It was so good. I decided then and there that I needed to share this recipe with you.
I love that this dressing is packed with anti-oxidant rich blueberries and uses cashews for a healthy fat. And, it’s simple to whip up in my Vita-Mix. Easy peasy.
My favorite way to use this dressing is on salads with fruit and sweeter veggies. I’m not sure I’d drizzle this over mushrooms but try carrots, radishes, berries, red cabbage and cucumbers.
How do you dress your salads?
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: about 2 cups
- 2 cups frozen blueberries
- ½ cup raw cashews
- ½ cup apple juice or water
- 5 tablespoons pomegranate balsamic vinegar
- Add the blueberries, cashews, apple juice or water and balsamic vinegar to a Vita-Mix or high-powered blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
I love that there are only 4 simple ingredients in this dressing. I’m all about simplicity! Bookmarked this dressing so I can try it later 🙂 Can’t wait!
This looks so simple but sounds so delicious! I’ve been looking for some new salad dressings to work through my “salad burnout”. Can’t wait to give this one a try.
Healthy and delicious – just my kind of recipe 🙂 I’m going to pick blueberries after work today so this is perfect!! I too also love salad anything – they’re just the easiest, aren’t they?
xo Alyssa
@Alyssa | Queen of Quinoa, Where do you pick blueberries? I don’t think you can do that in Texas….
My next vinegrette! Thank you, btw- i also put everything on a bed of lettuce. I just found a new mix of baby super greens at my whole foods. Hearty and sturdy, I can either saute or bed up!
Can’t wait to try!
xo
@Christianne, What’s the mix called?
I found the herb mix with dill, parsley, and cilantro. LOVE it!
@Amy,
Amy it is by “organic girl” and the mix is called Supergreens. I found mine at Whole Foods. If you go on Organic Girl website you can find it. I tried to attach a pic but not sure it will show up!
Good Luck!
/Users/cmadona/Desktop/supergreens__5clam.jpg
@Christianne, Thank you! Was just at Whole Foods yesterday but will check it out next time I’m there.
I’m with you, Amy! Ever since I created this recipe for Strawberry Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette, it’s all I want to put on my salads – no jarred stuff, thank you very much!
@Cara, You should share the link to your dressing so we can hop over and check it out.
@Cara, You should share the link to your dressing so we can check it out. Sounds delish!
Oh wow, Amy. I never thought of making it with blueberries. I make a honey balsamic vinaigrette with raspberries…but I just love the idea of blueberries. I can imagine it’s just delicious. 🙂 And no bottled dressing for me either. I said good-by long ago. Too easy to make at home and soooo much better.
@amber, I find that raspberries are bitter (almost dirt-like) when you whirl them whole because of the seeds. Do you?
Hi Amy
I use a sugar free raspberry preserve. Should have been more specific there. It yields a powerful, delightful raspberry flavor. 🙂
@amber, Oh. Thought you had some trick I didn’t know about. Yes, that would be delish.
I too love salady anything, and almost never follow a recipe, just use whatever I have and hope for the best. And I have a strong antipathy for bought dressings with their weird gummy textures and strangely suspended herbs and always make my own, even if it is just a thick balsamic and good Italian evoo. Your dressing really looks amazing and actually the colour is quite enticing, so don’t apologise for it – it’s real and all the better for looking real too. Wish I had a Vitamix though…
@kellie@foodtoglow, You’re sweet. Each time I eat this dressing I think about what the Chopped judges would say – they would not be fond of blueish-purple dressing.
Do get a Vita-Mix. I waited so long because they’re expensive but I’ve used it every day for 3 years. You can get free shipping through my site too – there’s a link in the sidebar. If you have specific questions let me know.
Hugs,
Amy
So easy and so delicious! This looks gorgeous. I definitely need to try this, since I have pomegranate balsamic and everything! 😉 Thanks for mentioning the salad dressing I had at the Memorial Day party, although I can’t take credit for it. I followed Karina’s recipe here: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2012/05/strawberry-spinach-salad-with-berry.html It was so good though!
How lovely and summery! Looks like I could drink it! 😉
@Heathy, Ha! I do eat it off of the spoon. Should I admit it out loud??
Great to hear from you, Heather.
Amy: What a delightful salad dressing. Have not seen pomegranate balsamic vinegar. Where did you find this?
@Angela @ HomeCookedHealthy, I found it at Sprouts. I’m sure you can get it at any specialty food store like Whole Foods. Or, do a search on-line. Balsamic vinegar comes in so many different flavors. It’s fun!!
How long will it last in the fridge? I would hate for those ingredients to get wasted! I am the only one in the house that would love this.
@Bliss Magill, I guess a week or two…I didn’t clock the shelf life of this.
I just made a batch of this, using 1/2 pomegranate vinegar, 1/2 balsamic vinegar (used what I had ;)), and even though I don’t have a vita-mix, it turned out so good! Really delicious flavors. I was specifically looking for no-sugar-added blueberry dressing, and this fit the bill perfectly. Thank you!
So happy to find this!! However I don’t have any pomegranate balsamic in the house. But I do have pomegranates AND balsamic vinegar here… Any tips for using raw arils from the fruit instead of infused vinegar? I have a VM and also use it daily, so am not concerned for the tiny seeds… Thanks!