Daily Archives: December 14, 2014

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Mason Jar Salad Tricks

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I have rediscovered my love of the Mason Jar. Growing up, we had hundreds of these in the pantry holding a rainbow of bounty from the garden harvest. Our kitchen also displayed the tell-tale peeling wallpaper seams of the avid home canner. Something about these jars says comfort and preparation for life’s unknowns to my brain. So, I have been joyfully reestablishing my jar-girl relationship and have found so many ways these inexpensive jars can help me and the planet.

As a storage option, Mason Jars rock. Uniform in size, reusable, hard to break and made of glass that does not leach plastic or metals into your food, they are my storage go-to. I pack all dry goods into these jars and have no more trouble with pantry pests. It is easy to see how much you have, so inventory control is easier. Here is a shot of my set up at home. As you can see, I ran out of jars and some things are still in bags, but I am gaining on them!

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Once you start having fun with Mason Jars, it’s hard to stop. I started using them for my green smoothies. Over at fellow blogger Cheryl’s site, I found her directions for putting straw holes into the lids and onto my husband’s ‘honey-do’ list that job went.

Then came the jar salad problem. These jars should be perfect for taking your salad with you when you travel or go to work but, if you put the dressing on when you pack the salad, it can get soggy by the time you want to eat. I like crunchy bits (granola, nuts, seeds etc.) on my salads and they are best added right before eating. I found the Cuppow but, it is plastic and $7.99 each. That’s when I discovered that the tea strainer from a Bodum style teapot fits a narrow mouth jar opening and a ceramic tea strainer I happened to have fit the wide mouth opening perfectly.

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Layering the salad dressing in the bottom, the harder vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers on that, then adding the lettuce at the top, allows the tea strainer full of crunchy stuff to fit right at the top without interfering with the lid function and keeps dressing off leaves effectively. When ready to eat, remove the strainer, dump out the salad into a dish and pour on the crunch!

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If you don’t like your dressing to touch the salad, put it in a small jar like this recycled pimento jar and throw it in with the greens. Assemble the salad when you are ready to eat. Have fun with your jars and send me your ideas!

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Vegan Creamy Cracked Pepper Parmesan Dressing

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Although I love my plant based way of eating, sometimes I miss a good, creamy dressing. With that in mind, I am always surprised at how well cashews can fill in for dairy. Pureed into soups, they bring a creamy mouth feel to a tomato bisque or cream of anything soup. A family favorite is any flavor of cashew based ice cream from the Vitamix. Yes, I will post about those in the future because you have to taste it to believe how good they are.

I am a happy student of the Rouxbe Cooking School which, IMHO, is the best instructional cooking site on the web. Their cashew sour cream recipe is the base for this dressing and a helpful condiment to have around. Spread onto sandwich bread, used as a base for a vegetable dip or dolloped onto your enchiladas, it is as versatile as it is tasty. Here is the Rouxbe recipe for the sour cream that you will need to make before proceeding with my dressing recipe.

Cashew Sour Cream

1 cup raw cashews
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2-3/4 cup water, or as needed
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste

Place the cashews into a bowl and cover with water. Let soak for a few hours, or overnight.

To make the sour cream, drain and rinse the cashews. Next, blend together the cashews, water, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice, until you reach a really smooth consistency.
Add more water until you reach the desired thickness. For instance, for more of a cream-like consistency, add more water until you reach a thinner, but still smooth, consistency.
Note: This is where a high-speed food processor is worth the investment. The higher the power, the smoother the outcome. Scrape the sides and continue to pulse until smooth. If needed, add a bit more water until you reach the desired consistency.
Use as you would any other flavorful sour cream.

For a more neutral flavored cashew cream, omit the lemon juice and apple cider from the recipe.

So now that you have the sour cream… onto the dressing.

This makes enough for 1-2 servings.

Vegan Creamy Cracked Pepper Parmesan Dressing

1 tbsp. cashew sour cream
1 tsp. almond milk (or coconut, soy milk etc.)
2 tsp. nutritional yeast
2 tsp. almond or coconut yogurt
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
salt to taste- roughly a small pinch

*1/4 tsp agave nectar (optional)

Put all ingredients into a small jar and shake vigorously. The dressing can be used immediately, but tastes even better if allowed to sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Depending on your personal taste, and the kind of pepper used, the dressing can benefit from a small (1/2 tsp) amount of agave sweetener to balance any bitterness that can sometimes develop from the seasonings. Keeps for several days.