I first came upon this recipe from Melissa Benishay on Instagram . It is simple , delicious and nutritious. I make it my way which means I pretty much follow her recipe but add chicken, chopped bacon (sometimes), feta, scallions and cucumbers. I also will add chopped up jalapeños for a spicy kick and avocado would be perfect as well. You can make this completely vegan of course but I just like to zuzh it up a bit. Add whatever you like and make it your way. Enjoy!
The ingredients are interesting and you may need to buy a few of these items. For the dressing
Lemons — which give it the fresh taste and the acid it requires
Olive Oil– for the good Fat
Rice Vinegar– a bit of sweet flavor and tang
Shallot– for the sweeter onion flavor
Garlic– because it’s garlic– need I say more
Basil–for that pesto like consistency and flavor
Spinach– for extra nutrients and a lot of green color and don’t tell my hub
Nutritional Yeast– I know I know why???? Because it adds cheesy like consistency and B12 vitamins –it’s kind of like powdered cheese and full of flavor but vegan and has now become a shelf staple in my house for vegan cheese sauces, vegan dips, soups, scrambles, stews and you get the drill.It’s super nutritious and full of protein, B Vitamins, and anti-oxidents.
Walnuts– a nutty base
Salt– to pull it all together and highlight all the layers of flavors and way to bland with no salt
*you’ll need a blender for this one
You can make the dressing ahead like I do in the morning or the day before and it will keep in the fridge for 2-3 maybe 4 days.
Salad Dressing Ingredients:
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. Rice Vinegar
2 largish cloves of garlic
1 smallish shallot
1/3 cup chives
1/4 cup walnuts, cashews, or nut of your choice — I always have chopped walnuts so that’s my nut of choice
1 cup fresh torn Basil Leaves
1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast– I got mine at Trader Joes but you can get this in almost any supermarket
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
For the Salad:
I like 1 head ofIceberg Lettuce chopped up and finely diced or you can use a head of green cabbage
3-4 mini cucumbers finely diced–optional see above paragraph on ingredients
1/4 cup chives, finely diced — also optional I used green onions/scallions tonight — use what you have even red onion diced is fine
1 bundle green onions / scallions
Directions:
Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl once they’re chopped up
Add all liquid dressing ingredients to a blender give it a whirl, and then add dry dressing ingredients and blend until smooth.
Yummmmmmmm and Thank You to Melissa Benishay or Baked by Melissa as most of you know
Cooking with Candi 