Ranch Dressing

The thing that tends to scare me about salads sometimes is the unhealthy dressings covering all the healthy veggies.  They’re loaded with empty calories, sodium and rancid oils for the most part.  That’s why I was more than happy when my homework assignment for class this week was to concoct a raw salad dressing.  It’s SO much easier than it sounds, and you consume nothing but nutrients in this version, which is the absolute BEST Ranch dressing I’ve ever tasted!

1 cup cashews, soaked overnight

¾ cup water

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp minced garlic or ½ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp minced onion or ½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp cayenne pepper, minced

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp fresh basil, minced

1 tbsp fresh dill, minced

• Combine all ingredients in a food processor, except for the basil and dill, and pulse until smoothly blended
• When mixed, add in basil and dill and pulse briefly