Three easy salad dressings to spice up your lunch!

Salads have been on my mind a lot lately. Today I thought I'd share my three favourite simple salad dressing recipes. They are all very different, very easy to make, and add a ton of variety to your salads.

When I said these dressings were simple, I wasn't kidding. They all follow the same two-step process: 1) Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. 2) Taste, and adjust any flavors to suit your preferences. Done! Makes about 1 cup

For best results, store refrigerated in a sealed mason jar.

1. Orange Mustard Vinaigrette

This oil-free vinaigrette is a super-fresh low calorie dressing that adds a ton of tangy sweetness to any salad. It's super versatile and you would be hard-pressed to find a salad where this dressing doesn't work well, but I particularly like how it cuts through the bitterness of more intense greens. Pairing this one with a salad of arugula and fresh fruit is perfection.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt, to taste

I use these classic flavours of peanut butter, soy sauce, and sesame in a lot of dishes, and they make a pretty yummy Asian-inspired salad dressing as well. This one is incredible tossed with a salad of shredded cabbage, carrots, green onions, and sesame seeds. It also works well as a marinade for tofu, or just a dipping sauce for fresh vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Those of you who read my blog regularly will not be surprised to see that I'm using cashews… It is true that 90% of my recipes these days use this ingredient, but I promise I'm not getting kickbacks from the cashew farmers (though, I should really look into that…).

The reason is that cashews make the perfect plant-based cream when blended. Here, we're turning that cream into a ranch dressing with kicked-up flavors of smoked paprika and nutritional yeast.

This one pairs perfectly with a simple salad of torn kale leaves and sliced green onions.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup raw cashews (the cashews need to be soaked for 1-6 hours before blending)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
• Salt, to taste