Almond dressings

[Guest guest]

Roger,

 

I have not experimented with almond dressings yet,

how do you put those together?

 

Lorri

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Lorri,

A nut dressing base is created by:

Soaking the nuts and rinsing them before putting them in the blender

Adding barely enough water to the nuts so they will blend well

Using ice cubes for much of the water to keep it from overheating before its

really smooth.

 

Besides the living foods issue, soaking the nuts removes a lot of the tannin

from the nut skin and softens the nuts so the blend smoother.

 

I use almonds or hazelnuts because they have more protein than most nuts, so I'm

getting more protein per unit of fat consumed. Also, I suspect that I don't do

well with polyunsaturated fats, and these nuts are lower in those fats than most

other nuts. I seem to do better with a combination of monounsaturated and

saturated fats. In a cuisine sense, I like the richness of the extra protein in

the dressings, and likely I developed a taste for this because I do better with

more protein in my diet than is generally eaten.

 

You could mix different nuts to get different combinations of flavor, texture,

and fat. I tend to like simpler foods, so I haven't tried that.

 

Once you have your nut crème, it is roughly equivalent to mayonnaise with some

liquid added to it to thin it down. Then I just add ingredients to taste, and

blend it all up together.

 

I usually do half the blending of the dressing first, so it can rest while I

work on the other ingredients. This allows the solids to finish absorbing as

much liquid as they are going to, and to let the flavors have more time for

blending. Then I finish blending while I'm cleaning up from cutting up the

fruit, and then pour it over the fruit.

 

I usually add a bit of dried fruit for sweetness and flavor to the dressing. The

tougher fruits need to be presoaked because its real hard on the blender to

blend them in while they are still hard.

 

I use fresh parsley a lot in my dressings as it adds a mild aromatic green

flavor to them.

 

You can add any combination of herbs or spices you want for variety, or to match

it to the specific salad you are making. I just went through a standard

cookbook, looking at the flavorings they added for ideas about what I might like

to add.

 

Adding olive oil to the dressing gives it a much heavier stronger flavor.

 

Sometimes when I'm making a dessert dressing, I'll add some coconut nut butter.

By this I mean the whole ground up nut with the nutmeat along with the oil, and

this also gives it a richer stronger flavor. I used to put carob power in with

this, but then I decided carob has a stimulate effect like chocolate or tea, and

so stopped using it.

 

The almond nut crème blended with dates, coconut nut butter, and carob makes a

fruit salad so rich its closer to candy than food. You can also add the usual

cookie or pie spices to this to make it even richer and stronger in flavor.

 

Using figs or mango to sweeten the dressing will also cause it to gel up to a

soft custard consistency if it sits for a while. So if you mixed the dressing in

with the fruit, and left it in the refrigerator, it would be more like a soft

pear cake that could be served on plates rather than something that would need

to be in a bowl to contain it.

 

The standard herbs for Italian flavored dishes can be added to the dressing base

for a stronger flavored vegetable dressing.

 

Mostly I use parsley and occasionally a bit of dill weed, with a small pinch of

sea salt for vegetables.

 

You can also add onion or garlic for a vegetable dressing, and if you are

careful to keep it as thick as possible, this will make a good vegetable dip.

 

May your day be filled with clarity, grace, strength, progress, and warm

laughter,

Roger

 

-

" LA " <LA

 

Sunday, March 29, 2009 12:08 PM

Almond dressings

 

 

> Roger,

>

> I have not experimented with almond dressings yet,

> how do you put those together?

>

> Lorri

>

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the information Roger,

 

I’ve used cashews for this a few times, I just

wondered if it would be done any differently with

almonds vs cashews. I love the taste though don’t

like the slight separation I’ve experienced. I

suspect I won’t be totally happy until I get one

of the high power blenders, although I do have a

higher end one now than I did last time I

experimented so I should try it again. Does it

smooth out more if left blending for a longer

period of time? I think I’m leery of running the

machine too long and from what I’ve read on raw

food sites it sounds like I need to get over it

:-)

 

I like your idea of doing half the blending and

letting it rest, I think I’ll adopt that. The fig

or mango dressing with the fruit sounds fabulous.

 

Thanks again,

 

Lorri

 

_____

 

 

On Behalf

Of Roger Padvorac

Sunday, March 29, 2009 4:39 PM

 

Re: Almond dressings

 

Hi Lorri,

A nut dressing base is created by:

Soaking the nuts and rinsing them before putting

them in the blender

Adding barely enough water to the nuts so they

will blend well

Using ice cubes for much of the water to keep it

from overheating before its really smooth.

 

Besides the living foods issue, soaking the nuts

removes a lot of the tannin from the nut skin and

softens the nuts so the blend smoother.

 

I use almonds or hazelnuts because they have more

protein than most nuts, so I'm getting more

protein per unit of fat consumed. Also, I suspect

that I don't do well with polyunsaturated fats,

and these nuts are lower in those fats than most

other nuts. I seem to do better with a combination

of monounsaturated and saturated fats. In a

cuisine sense, I like the richness of the extra

protein in the dressings, and likely I developed a

taste for this because I do better with more

protein in my diet than is generally eaten.

 

You could mix different nuts to get different

combinations of flavor, texture, and fat. I tend

to like simpler foods, so I haven't tried that.

 

Once you have your nut crème, it is roughly

equivalent to mayonnaise with some liquid added to

it to thin it down. Then I just add ingredients to

taste, and blend it all up together.

 

I usually do half the blending of the dressing

first, so it can rest while I work on the other

ingredients. This allows the solids to finish

absorbing as much liquid as they are going to, and

to let the flavors have more time for blending.

Then I finish blending while I'm cleaning up from

cutting up the fruit, and then pour it over the

fruit.

 

I usually add a bit of dried fruit for sweetness

and flavor to the dressing. The tougher fruits

need to be presoaked because its real hard on the

blender to blend them in while they are still

hard.

 

I use fresh parsley a lot in my dressings as it

adds a mild aromatic green flavor to them.

 

You can add any combination of herbs or spices you

want for variety, or to match it to the specific

salad you are making. I just went through a

standard cookbook, looking at the flavorings they

added for ideas about what I might like to add.

 

Adding olive oil to the dressing gives it a much

heavier stronger flavor.

 

Sometimes when I'm making a dessert dressing, I'll

add some coconut nut butter. By this I mean the

whole ground up nut with the nutmeat along with

the oil, and this also gives it a richer stronger

flavor. I used to put carob power in with this,

but then I decided carob has a stimulate effect

like chocolate or tea, and so stopped using it.

 

The almond nut crème blended with dates, coconut

nut butter, and carob makes a fruit salad so rich

its closer to candy than food. You can also add

the usual cookie or pie spices to this to make it

even richer and stronger in flavor.

 

Using figs or mango to sweeten the dressing will

also cause it to gel up to a soft custard

consistency if it sits for a while. So if you

mixed the dressing in with the fruit, and left it

in the refrigerator, it would be more like a soft

pear cake that could be served on plates rather

than something that would need to be in a bowl to

contain it.

 

The standard herbs for Italian flavored dishes can

be added to the dressing base for a stronger

flavored vegetable dressing.

 

Mostly I use parsley and occasionally a bit of

dill weed, with a small pinch of sea salt for

vegetables.

 

You can also add onion or garlic for a vegetable

dressing, and if you are careful to keep it as

thick as possible, this will make a good vegetable

dip.

 

May your day be filled with clarity, grace,

strength, progress, and warm laughter,

Roger