Vegan sesame vinaigrette salad dressing recipe
Sometimes a great salad dressing lifts a bowl of fresh salad greens and veggies onto another level. We serve a fresh salad dressing every lunch and dinner here at the retreat, bringing in different flavours and textures. If you like Asian-inspired flavours or mustardy vinaigrettes, this quick and easy vegan sesame vinaigrette salad dressing recipe will be ideal for you. It combines sesame oil, tamari (soy) sauce, apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard to create a delightful flavour that can be used with any salad items.
What is a vinaigrette dressing?
A vinaigrette dressing combines two main ingredients: oil and something acidic (like vinegar, lemon or lime), which is then mixed together with herbs or spices or other flavours to make a wonderful dressing (or marinade).
How do I reduce calories in my salad dressings?
As vinaigrette dressings are made from some type of oil, the calorie count can be quite high: one tablespoon of olive oil contains around 135 calories. It´s so easy to simply pour a dressing over the top of your salad, however if you are watching what you eat and want to keep the calorie count to a lower level, then we recommend that you use a tablespoon to serve your dressing, at least until you become accustomed to the optimum level of dressing for you. Remember, many oils contain necessary fats that our bodies need (read more here) so it´s not about cutting oils out completely.
We usually add water into our dressings and use a hand-blender to combine the water and oil. This increases the amount of dressing available, makes it a little lighter and fresher, whilst keeping the amount of oil to a lower level.
Vegan sesame vinaigrette salad dressing recipe
Serves: 10 generous (2 tbsp each)
Calories: 2183 total, 218 per serving (109 per tbsp)
Ingredients
1 tbsp tamari (soy) sauce
1 tbsp dijon mustard
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
5 tbsp water
10 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
Optional: toasted sesame seeds
Method
Blend together the tamari (or soy) sauce, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and water in a bowl or measuring jug, for 30 seconds. Slowly add the oil, with the blender running, to incorporate. If you want to add some texture to the dressing, you can add in one tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds.
Serve with a big bowl of salad leaves (cos lettuce, spinach, rocket and watercress, maybe with cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, celery, radish, grated carrot and perhaps some sprouted lentils or beans).
We serve our dressings in a jug, to the side of the salad, so that people can add as much or as little dressing as they would like. (You could pour the dressing over the salad leaves before serving, however you will find that your salad leaves and veggies start to go soft and lose their freshness quicker, and you will need to throw them away if you do not eat it all at that mealtime).
This salad dressing can be stored in your fridge, in a sealed container for a few days. You can also use it as a marinade for tofu – simply pour over tofu pieces and leave them to marinade for a few hours. Enjoy!
More information
For information on salad greens and more dressings read our article “raw food salads to refresh and rejuvenate”. There are also lots more recipes on our blog page and more information about the plant-based food that we serve here.
About the author
- Lisa is one of the founders of La Crisalida Retreats. She is an Epidemiologist, therapeutic hatha and yin yoga teacher and also teaches mindfulness meditation. Lisa has studied NLP and hypnosis, as well as nutrition (she designs the menus).
