Adding color to a salad not only makes it eye appealing, but also tastier and more nutritious. Different colors in fruits and veggies usually indicates a good variety of vitamins and minerals.
What is a cashew pate? In the “raw” world, it’s quite popular. Okay, that might not be the best sell. But even if you’re not into the raw thing, I recommend trying this out interesting addition to a salad. It’s strong in flavor and texture, but also surprisingly mellow and can fool even the biggest meat eaters. You just have to be a little adventurous.
Cashew Pate
Makes 1 large cup
- 1 cup raw cashew pieces (pieces are usually less expensive than whole, but you can use either)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon yellow miso
- juice of 1/2 lemon (or more to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Mix all ingredients in a food processor. Add in about 1/4 cup water–just enough to let the food processor run well. If you have a vitamix, use it! It will be much easier. After running the vitamix at a high speed for about 30 seconds, let it run on a slow speed for a bit to make sure all chunks are gone and it is fairly smooth. It will be fairly thick.
Lemon Tahini Dressing
Makes about about 2 cups
- juice of 2 lemons (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup lite silken tofu (you could also probably sub extra virgin olive oil if you want)
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup of water, or enough to thin it out into a creamy dressing.
Mix all ingredients in a blender or vitamix. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or so.
Summer Salad
Mix and match whatever veggies you want here. I just went for whatever looked best and was local. Here’s a list of what I used.
- Mixed Greens
- Baby Heirloom Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Red and Yellow Beets– spiralized. These add so much color! You can also shred them.
- Orange Pepper
- Carrots
- Daikon–this is an interesting veggie to try. It’s kind of a mix between a carrot and a radish. It is milder than a typical radish, but has a bite to it.
Mix all veggies together, then place on top of a nice handful of mixed greens. Then drizzle the tahini dressing on top, or toss with greens. If you are going for presentation, I’d drizzle. Otherwise everything turns white and is indistinguishable! I served the pate on the side of the plate, along with a few carrot sticks.