This healthy, oil-free, high-fiber salad dressing gets its rich and luscious creaminess from nutrient-dense avocado and cashews. It tastes fabulous with a green salad, is luscious drizzled over steamed or sautéed zucchini and summer squash, and pairs perfectly with fresh, garden tomatoes. It’s also great for dipping bread!
Basil is so easy to grow – even if you don’t have a garden, you can grow a pot of basil on your porch or windowsill.
Or if you don’t want to grow your own basil, you can find it in abundance during the summer months at your local grocery store, at farmer’s markets, or from your CSA.
Basil Avocado Salad Dressing
This smooth and creamy salad dressing is bursting with flavor, and because it's made with natural fats instead of refined oils, it's great for weight loss,
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 14 fresh basil leaves (more or less depending on taste)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 medium avocado
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Place cashews, water, lemon juice, basil leaves, garlic, granulated onion, and salt in blender. (A heavy-duty blender works best for this recipe; other blenders may not get the mixture smooth enough.) Blend until very smooth and creamy.
- Peel and pit avocado and coarsely dice or mash flesh. Add to blender. (The reason for dicing the avocado before blending is to prevent avocado from needing to be blended too much as this makes the dressing airy.)
- Add oregano to blender and pulse just enough to thoroughly mix. Do not overblend.
- Adjust seasonings to taste. Because a medium avocado can contain anywhere from 7/8 cup to 1 1/3 cup mashed flesh, additional seasonings may need to be added for the best flavor.
Notes
Best if used immediately, but will keep in the refrigerator for a couple days with minimal discoloration.
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Would you like more avocado recipes? Here are some of my healthy favorites.
Nichole Kraft, Food Writing Copyeditor
July 14, 2015 at 4:40 pmI’ll have to give this recipe a whirl–it might be a good way to sneak avocado past my hubby. 😉
Meg @ Noming thru Life
July 22, 2015 at 4:44 pmOh this dressing is about to go on EVERYTHING!! Every single ingredient is so spot on. I’m about to drench the my fridge in it 😉