Creamy Green Garlic Scape Dressing

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They’re back! Garlic scapes are back at the farmer’s market.

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Fresh and light, they are a great addition to salads or sautés. I recreated one of my original recipes to make an oil free, creamy light green version. And boy, do I love this dressing! Today I served cucumber crudités decorated with sliced garlic scapes and the dressing as a dip. I plan to make a fresh farmer’s market summer salad for dinner with lettuce, colorful carrots, kirby cucumbers, garlic scapes, apples and toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

6 garlic scapes
1 cup raw cashews
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pink salt

If you don’t have a Vitamix, soak the cashews for 4 hours. Better yet, get a Vitamix. It is time, people. You need one!

Place all of the ingredients in the Vitamix and let it rip until the dressing is smooth. Enjoy!

Kale Salad with Creamy Avocado Tahini Dressing

IMG_0736If you read this blog, you know how I feel about kale; it is just a little too bitter and earthy for me. But considering that it is s a nutritional powerhouse filled with fiber, calcium, antioxidants, iron, and other minerals, I figure out ways to incorporate it. I blanch it in dishes like my potato-apple-kale sauté or in pasta with caramelized shallots and kale which takes the edge off.

But, raw, not so much. And, here is why. I recently read an article about supertasters, people who are hypersensitive to the bitterness in certain foods, kale being a prime example. Finally, an explanation!

So I came up with this salad and dressing which is influenced by three of my friends: Rachel, Amy and Kim. The creamy avocado dressing, combined with the sweetness of raisins, the sharpness of scallions, and the kick of the lemon juice, makes for a delicious salad. Yeah!

makes 1 serving

1 stalk of curly kale
1 scallion
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons golden hunza raisins

Creamy Avocado Tahini Dressing (makes almost 1 cup, even better the next day)
1/2 avocado
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (nooch)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
The juice of 1 lemon
S and P, to taste

Place all ingredients into the food processor and combine until smooth. Add more water if too thick.

Take the kale off the center rib and chop it finely. Thinly slice the scallions. Toast the pine nuts. Place everything into a big bowl including the raisins. Toss with as much dressing as you like. Enjoy!