Sesame Orange Dressing

The veggies I use tend to differ every time I make a dish. The sauces are often close to the same, but as I don't measure they change depending on my mood. This is a common base, that sometimes has more ginger, more salty soy sauce, or added honey to give it a tad sweeter taste. Taste as you go!

2 tangerines, peeled
1 inch piece ginger, peeled
1 green onion
1 - 2 cloves garlic
2 T. toasted sesame oil
1.5 T. soy/tamari sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
Fire oil or cayenne for spice

Blend ingredients until smooth. Optional: If you like a thicker sauce, want more sweetness, or don't like strong vinegar flavors, add a teaspoon or so of honey.

Use on sautéed or roasted veggies, rice, noodles, or cabbage salad. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Roasted Butternut Tahini Dip

Sweet and creamy.  This dip can easily be mixed with a pasta, rice, or used as a dip for a plate of veggies.  

1/2  butternut squash
1 small onion, halved
Oil for roasting
1/4 c.  tahini
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 t. lemon juice
1/2 t. coriander powder
Drizzle sesame oil
salt, pepper, cayenne, to taste


Coat onion and squash in oil and roast until the squash is soft and the onions are browning.  Cool.

Scoop out squash and place it and remaining ingredients into blender/food processor.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  Adjust ingredients to your desire. I sometimes want lemony or spicy. 

Garnish with a drizzle of sesame/olive oil and some sesame seeds.  This is good warm or as a sauce.    

Ranch Dressing

Craig and I have always appreciated a good salad.  We tend to prefer vinaigrette dressings, with balsamic vinaigrette being a favorite. In a desire to increase the kids salad consumption we asked what we could do to make them more desirable.  Eva wants no toppings, just lettuce and the balsamic dressing - easy enough.  Elias claimed that anything works, but he likes going to Sweet Tomato's for the ranch.  Ranch isn't something I use often.  My grandma always made a fabulous homemade one, so I set out to recreate a homemade version that Elias would appreciate.  He is now requesting salads.  

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise


• 1/2 cup buttermilk


• 1/2 cup sour cream


• 1/2 teaspoon dried chives


• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley


• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed


• 1    teaspoon garlic powder


• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper


• Dash of cayenne

Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

1 lb. cream cheese, softened

1 c. yogurt/sour cream/mayo (any combination will do)

1 c. chopped artichoke hearts or any tapenade

1 c. chopped spinach

1/4 c. chopped basil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 c. grated Parmesan

salt/pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Place into a casserole dish and bake at 375 degrees until the top is bubbly and starting to brown. Serve warm with bread, veggies and crackers.

This is quite versatile. I have used olives, bell pepper, eggplant or green chilies instead of artichokes. I've also mixed in other cheeses. It is always a hit at a party and you can easily scale the recipe to accommodate any size crowd.

Zucchini Sandwich Filling

Elias has shown himself to be dairy intolerant and we are all cutting out quite a bit of it in order to make his life easier. One of his favorite lunches is a sandwich, usually avocado cheese. Today we did a bit of experimenting and made a zucchini filling that he (and the rest of us) really enjoyed. I used to make something like this with shredded cheese and zucchini, adding sour cream or mayonnaise to the dressing.

Use all or a mixture of to compliment the zucchini:
1 zucchini, shredded (I used my mandoline and slice to 3 mm julienne)
black olives, quartered
tomatoes, diced
green onions, chopped
cucumber, shredded or diced
bell peppers, diced

Top and stir in dressing:

Blend until smooth adding enough olive oil to make it a dip like consistency.

2-3 green onions
handful basil
handful parsley
2-3 T lemon juice
1/2 avocado (I used this instead of the sour cream I used to use)
garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper

This is great as a sandwich filling or used as a salad you scoop with chips. I can find many of these ingredients in my summer garden and they all tend to be staple foods in our house. Easy and fresh tasting.

Cilantro Pesto Dip

This is a raw food that we love to eat with crackers or blue corn chips (not raw!) Many of our friends who dislike cilantro have enjoyed this dip. You have to remember to soak the nuts/seeds the night before.

1/3 c. raw brazil nuts
1/3 c. raw sunflower seeds
1/3 c. raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

4 cloves garlic
2 c. packed cilantro/coriander
2/3 c. olive oil
4 T. lemon juice
2 t. dulse powder (optional)
Sea salt to taste

Soak the nuts and seeds overnight in a quart of water and rinse.
Process the garlic and nuts/seeds until sandy textured.
Add the cilantro, oil, lemon juice, dulse and salt and process until it is a smooth paste (although sometimes I don't do it too smooth).
Serve with veggies, chips, crackers or other favorite dippers.

This does freeze well, although we never have any left for freezing.